The familiar of Zero: a different tale
by Ordinarycomet3
Summary: Louise wanted an amazing familiar, what she got was a boy who seems ordinary. Little does she know, hes exactly what she wanted.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello to anyone reading this, this is Ordinarycomet3. This is my first ever Fanfiction, so I apologize for any errors or mistakes I may make. I'll be doing my best to ensure this is an enjoyable story for anyone reading it. In this story a Character I made up called Hiato Higurashi (I just made that name up) replaces Saito as Louise's familiar, he has extra powers alongside the Gandalfr powers he gets later. **

"Dialogue" _What a character is thinking to themselves, or emphasized words. "Different language"_

**Please comment and review. I will release the next chapter as soon as I can. Also I will most likely be covering one episode of FOZ per Chapter, so expect long chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero.**

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**Chapter 1: The Summoning **

Hiato opened his eyes and looked around. He breathed a sigh of relief that he was still alive and alone. He got up and yawned, stretching his arms in the process. The cave was fairly dark as the fire he had lit the night before was now smouldering embers, but Hiato, even with the small amount of light he had, could see the whole interior with almost no difficulty.

He walked to the entrance, checking to see if anyone was lurking around outside. It was early and the sun was only starting to peek over the horizon. Hiato smiled, he always loved watching the sunrise in the mornings, it was one of the reasons he got up so early. After looking around the entrance and finding no-one around, he walked back inside and made his way to the mirror he had hung on the wall. He looked into the mirror and looked himself up and down in the dim light. He wasn't exactly in the best condition. His brown hair was a mess, like it always is, his light green eyes still had the same look in them as always, the look of someone fighting to survive, but he had dark lines under his eyes. It had been a while since he'd had a good, restful sleep, mostly when he slept, it was a very nervous sleep, he could never completely fall asleep and he was always on edge. He could see the effects it was having on him.

He sighed and turned away; thinking about it wouldn't help his situation at all, he needed to find somewhere where everyone wasn't trying to kill him for what he was. He chuckled _Fat chance of that _he thought to himself. He lay back down on his make-shift bed. _Should get a few more hours of sleep while I can, I've got to keep moving. _As he closed his eyes a sudden light appeared. Fearing the worst, Hiato jumped onto his feet and looked around. What he saw surprised him. The light was coming from a strange green shape just a few feet in front of him; Hiato wasn't sure where it had come from, but he could tell no one was in the cave with him. He relaxed and walked towards the light slowly. It had a steady glow, it wasn't fading nor getting brighter, and it also seemed to be stationary. He poked it and pulled his hand back as he did, but all that happened was the area where he had poked seem to wobble. Still unsure if it was a trap, he stuck his right hand into it and just as he was about to pull it out, his hand got stuck. Before he knew it he was being sucked into the strange green light, and despite his best efforts, was dragged inside.

* * *

There was a large group of students gathered around outside in one of the court yards of the Tristain Academy of Magic, as well as a bald man holding a staff, he was known as Professor Colbert. All of the students were eager and excited for what was happening today and the group was abuzz with conversation. "I hope I get a Salamander." a student said, "I hope I don't get a mouse like my dad did." Another one said. Everyone was talking about what familiar they would get, except for one pink haired girl, by the name of Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Valliere, or rather her more commonly known name, "Louise the Zero".

"Alright that's enough chatting." Professor Colbert said. The students quieted down and as their names were called stepped forward and performed the summoning ritual. The purpose of this ritual was for the students to summon their familiars, beings with powers similar to their masters, as well as be their companions. As each creature was summoned, the student that summoned it would kiss it, causing a rune to appear somewhere on the familiars body and symbolizing it becoming a familiar. Louise kept her composure at seeing some of the familiars that were being summoned; some summoned great, powerful beasts, whereas others summoned strange, unique familiars. She was determined to not be embarrassed _today _of all days.

"Has everyone had a turn?" Asked Colbert

"Well, not quiet." Kirche said, glancing at Louise. "Miss Valliere still has her familiar to summon."

"Oh yes! Louise, are you ready?" the professor asked the pink haired girl.

"Y-yes sir." She replied, suddenly very nervous

"Very well then, please perform the ritual."

"Yes sir."

She swallowed and walked into the middle of the crowd, she heard whispers from the crowd, they were speculating what kind of familiar she would summon, and one person even said she probably won't be able to summon one at all.

She took a deep breath. _OK Louise you can do this, summon a familiar that will make everyone regret ever mocking your magical ability. _She raised her wand, closed her eyes and focused wholly on the summoning spell. "My Familiar that exists somewhere in this universe or another, heed my call. My divine, beautiful, wise and powerful familiar, I summon you!"

She opened her eyes and thrust her wand in front of her. As she did, an explosion erupted from her wand, filling the courtyard with smoke. She felt something strange, she felt pain, sadness and anger all at once, and then it disappeared.

As the dust cleared, Louise's eyes went wide when she saw what she had summoned; all the other students froze in shock when they saw it as well. She had summoned a human, worse than that a commoner, he had messy brown hair and was wearing a white shirt with red buttons and simple trousers, with boots.

* * *

Hiato stirred, his vision was blurry and his body felt weird, it had felt as if he had been falling. He blinked to clear his vision and saw there was a blue sky above him. Suddenly he remembered, he was in the cave just a moment ago. He bolted upright, and was quiet surprised at what he saw. Directly in front of him was a pink haired girl surrounded by people. He looked around, _where am i?_ Suddenly he noticed everyone was staring at him, and then he saw a red haired girl walk out the crowd and say something in a language he didn't recognise.

"This is more than what I expected from you after all that boasting you did yesterday." Kirche said mockingly. "To think you actually summoned up a peasant, I'm surprised you even summoned _anything._" All the students burst into laughter at this, and Louise felt her face go red.

"Well I have to say, this is a first, and I've never seen someone summon a human as a familiar before." Colbert said, trying to make it sound like an achievement, Louise however, thought the opposite.

"Professor, C-can I try the summoning spell again?" Louise asked, desperate to avoid having a commoner as her familiar.

"No, I'm afraid not, this is the most sacred spell that a mage can perform, it changes their whole life. You cannot _try again_, that would be blasphemy to the ritual. Like it or not, that boy is your familiar." Colbert said in a tone that offered no room for arguing.

"Fine..." Louise said, annoyed and upset.

"Now finish the ritual." Colbert said. Louise walked up to Hiato, who hadn't understood a single word that had been said this whole time. "What's going on here?" he asked, but he didn't know if anyone answered him, if he couldn't understand them, they probably couldn't understand him. The pink haired girl walked up to him, and started speaking again. "Oh pentagon of the five powers, bless this individual and make him my familiar." She lowered herself onto her knees and put her hand behind his head and started to pull it closer to her. Hiato wasn't sure how to react and suddenly her lips met his. His eyes went wide in shock. _What the hell? Now some random girl is kissing me? _Louise pulled out the kiss and stood up, suddenly Hiato's body got really hot, and his right hand started to hurt, he grabbed his right hand as a strange mark was burned into it. _Now what's going on? _He thought to himself, suddenly the feeling disappeared, and Hiato passed out.

* * *

Hiato woke up, feeling groggy for the first time in a few years. He yawned and stretched his arms. _Damn that was a good sleep, haven't slept like that in..._ Suddenly he remembered everything that had happened, the strange people, the girl kissing him, the burning feeling, _was it a dream? _He shot upright and looked around; he was in a room he didn't recognise. _No, this isn't a dream _he told himself. _Well I guess that means wherever I am, the people here aren't trying to kill me... yet. _ He then noticed the Pink haired girl from earlier standing next to him, he looked up at her. He could immediately tell from her face that she was angry. _Uh-oh_. He said to himself, he slowly stood up.

Louise was furious. _Why!? Why a commoner, of ALL the things I could have summoned, I just HAD to summon a commoner! Why couldn't I at least have gotten something useful?! _She was screaming inside her head, and she walked to her cupboard.

"_Where am i? Why am I here? How did I get here?" _Hiato asked, but Louise did not understand any of them, she just heard gibberish coming from Hiato's mouth.

"He's so noisy! Can't he just shut up?" she sighed. "Wait I know, I'll use the silence spell!" she turned around and pointed her wand at Hiato, who stopped talking. "Ansur Ver ang" Suddenly Hiato felt like someone had just punched him square in the face really hard; he was blasted backwards into the wall.

"OW." Hiato yelled. "What was that for?"

"I wasn't meaning to- wait, I understood that!" Louise said to him.

"You did?" Hiato asked. Suddenly he could also understand Louise. _At least now I can figure out where I am. _Louise nodded. "You, what's your name?" she asked. Hiato felt relieved and nervous at the same time. _She doesn't recognise me, so where ever I am obviously people don't know about me, but what if they just know my name? Ah who cares, I'll tell her anyway, I can just make a break for it if she recognises my name. _He stood up and looked at Louise. "My name is Hiato Higurashi." He said. "Higurashi Hiato?" Louise repeated, sounding confused. _Phew, she doesn't recognise my name _"anyway, why am I here?" Hiato asked

"Well that's simple, I summoned you to be my familiar."

"Familiar?" Hiato asked, confused.

She sighed "I guess I'll have to explain it to you."

* * *

Deep in the academy libraries, Professor Colbert was flicking through pages of books, looking for a page of information he remembered about the strange rune that Louise's familiar had gained when she had completed the summoning ritual; he needed to know what it was. He finally found what he was looking for. "But that's impossible" he said, reading the text. "I'll have to inform the Headmaster of this at once."

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**There you have it, my first ever chapter of fan fiction, sorry if it's a bit long, not sure how long till I can put the next chapter up. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 2 of my FOZ Fanfiction! Thanks to all those who read and reviewed the first chapter, I appreciate it a lot, and I'm glad you all enjoyed it. For those of you wondering, this Fan Fiction will have an original story, but for the first few chapters, I will stick loosely to what happened in the show. **

**For now, here's chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own familiar of zero**

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Hiato sat down on his bed made of hay, thinking about everything Louise had just told him. In more ways than one, he was happy he wasn't in Eurthina anymore, and he didn't have a burning desire to get back there. _I don't have to worry about the hunters anymore, that's for sure_ he said to himself. He looked up at the pink haired girl who was his master, Louise- he couldn't be bothered to remember her surname; he had a few more questions for her.

"So summoning a human as a familiar is very rare?" he asked.

Louise nodded. "Rare, and looked down upon."

_Well I guess that means summoning something like me is probably never even heard of_ Hiato said to himself. "And all the mages in this academy are nobles?" He asked.

Louise nodded "Yes, only mages who are from a noble family may attend the academy." _Great so I'm surrounded by nobles_ he let out a sigh

Hiato found his situation very ironic, he had never liked nobles, in fact he thought he hated them, after all, they were the ones who had been trying to kill him for nearly his whole life of almost 18 years. Yet now he was a _servant _to a _Noble, _the class of people who, back in his world, were responsible for his parent's deaths. As much as he disliked the situation, he figured it was better than trying to survive in this world on his own.

As he stood up, he suddenly got an idea for how to make the best of the situation, and probably drive Louise mad. As he got on his feet, he mockingly bowed to Louise. "What does my _master_ request of me?" he said in a tone to match his bow.

Louise stood up straight, she didn't catch his tone. "Good to see my familiar knows its place." She said with an air of superiority. "You will take my laundry and go wash it, then afterwards dry it and bring it back here." Hiato bit his tongue and looked up, and saw a pile of clothes on the table. "Of course _master _it would be an _honour_ to perform this task for you." Hiato said, in a voice dripping with sarcasm. As he gathered the clothes and walked to the door, Louise realised the tone he was using, and she got furious.

"I will not allow a familiar to take such a disrespectful tone with me!" she yelled at him.

Hiato turned to face her and gave another bow. "My most _sincere_ and _humble _apologies _master_, I had _no_ intention of being _disrespectful_ to you, now if you will _excuse_ me, I must complete this most _vital_ task you have given me." Hiato got through the door and shut it before she could say anything else; he bit his tongue even harder and made his way down the stairs. He wasn't doing this just because he was Louise's familiar, he wanted some fresh air and this was a perfect excuse to get some.

On his way down Hiato walked past a boy and a girl, but barely took notice, all he noticed was the girl had brown hair, and the boy had blond hair. He continued downwards until he got outside. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he collapsed and started laughing for the first time in what felt like his whole life. _If I'm stuck as a noble's servant, I might as well try to enjoy myself_ he thought to himself, and kept laughing. _I can't believe she thought I was actually going to act all servant like._

He stopped laughing and looked around; he saw a fountain that had a bucket next to it. He walked over to it and then he remembered something _I have no idea how to wash clothes_ he said. He suddenly became very self-conscious; he couldn't remember the last time his clothes had been washed, he laughed again _no wonder they could find me so easily, I probably can be smelt from a mile away_ he laughed again then sat down next to the fountain.

After a while he stopped and looked around, he noticed a girl who seemed to be wearing a maids outfit, and he got up and ran over to her. "Hello." He said, smiling at her. The girl was surprised by the sudden introduction. "H-hello." She said

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to surprise you like that." Hiato said.

"N-no its ok." The girl said smiling. Suddenly recognition dawned on her face. "wait, are you the commoner that was summoned to be Louise Vallieres familiar?"

"Yeah, that's me alright." He said _Word about me sure got around fast_ he thought to himself

"My name is Siesta, and I have the honour of serving the nobles that live here." She smiled at him. _An honour huh, that's an interesting way to look at it_ Hiato thought to himself. "My name is Hiato Higurashi; it's a pleasure to meet you." Hiato smiled back

"Hey could you help me with something?" Hiato asked. "Sure." Siesta answered.

Hiato led her to where he had been washing Louise's laundry. "Mind lending me a hand? I kind of don't know how to do this properly..." He let out a nervous laugh, Siesta just giggled at him.

Their conversation continued, it was mostly just Hiato asking Siesta about the academy, and him watching her do the laundry. When she was done he gathered it up, waved goodbye to Siesta and climbed the tower. When he got to Louise's room, he was tempted to shout through the door and ask for permission to enter, but decided against it. He entered the room and was surprised to find Louise asleep. He put her clothes on the table and walked over to her. _She actually looks cute when she's not yelling her head off, or acting like a spoiled brat_ Hiato thought to himself. He lied down on his hay bed. Compared to what he'd been forced to use as a bed before, this was a massive improvement. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Hiato went to breakfast with Louise, and wasn't at all surprised at how he got such a small amount of food. He was basically a servant, so expecting to be given large amounts of food was unrealistic. He took it and left the hall, going on a walk to explore the school. After a while he took a nap until the end of breakfast, he met up with Louise as she left the hall.

"So _master_, must I accompany you to class?" he asked, in the mocking tone he knew Louise hated. She gritted her teeth and replied, "No, today there are no classes for the second years, instead we are supposed to spend the whole day communicating with our newly summoned familiars." Hiato suddenly got a sinking feeling in his stomach, and dread creped over him _A whole day just talking to her?_ He closed his eyes and made a silent prayer to whatever gods that existed that she would not spend the whole day talking to him.

"But I've decided that instead of communicating with you, you can help serve tea and snacks. I'm going to take the day to relax" _Oh thank God_ he thought to himself. He then thought about it and realised what he would be doing. Serving tea, to nobles. _Ugh_ he thought _maybe spending a whole day communicating with her isn't such a bad idea after all, it's better than running around serving a bunch of nobles_.

"Hello, Louise." A voice said. Louise and Hiato turned around to see a girl with red hair who had a large red skinned beast next to her. Louise frowned. "Hello, Kirche." She said in a spiteful tone. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing, just to congratulate you again on summoning a commoner as a familiar." She chuckled. Hiato wasn't really paying attention and was focused on the strange animal next to her, Kirche noticed Hiato looking at her familiar. "Have you never seen a salamander before? They are quiet rare and powerful familiars to summon." She said proudly "but not nearly as rare as human familiars." she added, looking straight at Louise, who was starting to get annoyed.

_A salamander huh, looks different from the ones in my world_ Hiato thought to himself. The salamander looked up at Hiato and turned its head, it almost seemed to have a curious look on its face. _I wonder if it can tell what I am _he thought to himself. "I have seen a salamander before, quite a few actually." He looked at Kirche "I don't think any were bigger than yours though." He said. _Well not the normal ones anyway_ he thought.

Suddenly he was being dragged away from Kirche and her familiar, which still seemed to be looking at him. Louise dragged him around a corner then turned to face him, she was angry. "You may not talk to her again! And you may also not compliment her either!" Hiato took a step back. "I was just saying the truth; I wasn't meaning to compliment her." He said, he decided he would drop his act for now; it would be a waste of time.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Bring me some tea." She ordered, before storming off. Hiato sighed and walked after her.

While he was talking around the tables he bumped into Siesta again, she had a tray with tea cups on it. "Hello Hiato." She said smiling at him. "Hey Siesta." Hiato said, smiling back at her. "Why are you serving tea?" she asked. "Aren't the second years supposed to spend today communicating with their familiars?"

"Yeah they are, but my master decided she'd rather take the day to relax." Hiato answered.

"Oh ok then, well I'll see you later, I've got to get back to work." Siesta said and walked towards a table where students were waving her over.

"Same, see you later." Hiato smiled and was about to keep wandering around when he heard a voice. "Hey you, fetch us some tea." Hiato turned to see where the source of the voice. When he saw who it was he recognized him, he was the boy he had walked past last night and across the table from him was a blond haired girl. Hiato could tell immediately he wouldn't like this boy. He gave off an air of arrogance, his outfit was flamboyant, and Hiato guessed his personality was the same, he then noticed the rose he was holding _wonder who that's for_ he thought.

He went to fetch the tea, and as he put it on the table the boy said. "Ah, you must be the commoner Louise summoned, I'm not surprised she has you acting like a servant." He waved his hand as if to shoo Hiato off, and Hiato found it extremely tempting to punch him right in his smug little face. Hiato decided against picking a fight and walked away, as he was thinking what to do next he bumped into a brown haired girl.

"Um, excuse me I'm looking for someone his name is guiche, do you perhaps know where he is?" she asked him.

Hiato looked at her, she seemed familiar. "Well what does he look like?" He asked her.

"Blond hair, carry's a rose around with him..."

_Total snob?_ He felt like asking but didn't "He's over there." He said, turning and pointing to where the boy was sitting. "Thank you." The girl said, and hurried off. Hiato wandered around then suddenly heard shouting. He saw Guiche being shouted at by 2 girls; suddenly they stormed off in tears.

Guiche looked around, trying to find a way to hide the embarrassment, and then he saw the familiar who had brought him tea earlier laughing. "You!" he said, pointing his wand at him. "You have cause 2 lovely ladies great pain today, and I will not stand for it." Hiato stopped laughing and looked at him. "Me? I just told her where to find you, it's your fault they are crying." He took a few steps forward. "So what do you intend to do?" Hiato asked, curious.

"I intend to duel you." Guiche said, boasting an arrogant smile. "Aren't duels banned?" someone asked. "Yes, but not if it's between a noble and a commoner." Hiato chuckled. "I thought that a noble as snobbish as you would never dirty his hands in a duel." Hiato said.

Suddenly Louise charged out the crowd that had gathered. "Familiar! Apologize at once!" She shouted at Hiato and turned to face Guiche. "I apologize, my familiar can be very disrespectful sometimes, please do not take offense." She then glared at Hiato. "You will not accept this duel do you hear me?" Hiato opened his mouth to speak but Guiche cut him off.

"No offense was taken, and do not worry. The duel will be a quick one and I will not kill your familiar. I am of a family with a military history, whereas your familiar's parents were most likely a tavern wench and a drunken bri-"

"DO NOT SPEAK ABOUT MY PARENTS LIKE THAT!" Hiato roared at Guiche. Everyone took a step back from Hiato, and Guiche seemed to have lost some of his confidence. "Familiar, you do not shout at a noble!" Louise said, grabbing Hiato's arm. He turned to face her and she suddenly got a cold feeling down her spine.

Hiato's eyes were filled with anger, and his green irises seemed to have gained a faint glow. His face was one of anger and pain, Louise barely recognized him. "No, I will never apologize to someone who insults my parents. Never." He said in a voice full of anger. He turned to face Guiche, who almost seemed to shaking a little bit

"You want to have a duel? Very well then, let's have a duel." Hiato said, with an evil smile.

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**And that's the second chapter! For those of you who think he's a bit too accepting of his new situation, and lacking a desire to go home is weird, you'll understand when I reveal his back story. I hope you all enjoyed this; I'll probably get the next chapter up in about 2-3 days. Also sorry for any errors or anything I've made, this whole thing is new to me. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: the fight!

**Hello and welcome to chapter 3 of my FOZ fan Fiction! Thanks again to all those who have read and reviewed the precious 2 chapters, I really appreciate it, and I'm happy people enjoyed them.**

**For now, here's chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own familiar of zero.**

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Hiato turned away from Guiche, smiling, and started walking. He wasn't angry anymore but he had scared the noble with his sudden outburst of anger, but hadn't chickened out like Hiato was expecting him to. Hiato was to meet him at Vestri court, wherever that was. He then thought about Louise, she had been furious that he had insulted Guiche, even worse that he had accepted the duel. Hiato decided thinking about it wouldn't help, so he started to think about the duel.

_I doubt he will fight me himself, he'll probably use magic_ Hiato didn't like that idea, he had been in lots of fights in his life, he wasn't a stranger to combat, he knew how to fight hand to hand and with swords, but he had no idea how to fight a mage. _Maybe I'll have to use it, if things get really bad_ he thought _I really hope I don't have to though_ He heard footsteps behind him, and then someone grabbed his arm.

"Familiar, where do you think you're going?" Louise asked him, she seemed to be less angry than a few minutes ago.

"To fight the duel." He said simply, looking at her.

"Well I forbid you from it! You will apologize to Guiche and cancel this duel!" She said sternly, but Hiato noticed something strange, she wasn't making eye contact with him.

"No." he said flatly. "He insulted my parents, and I can never forgive him for that. I must win this duel so that he learns his place." Louise looked at him and opened her mouth to say something when she saw the look in his eyes. It was one of pain, and sadness. Her mouth closed, and she wondered for the first time _just what kind of life did he have before I summoned him to be my familiar?_ _It mustn't have been a happy one _Louise thought to herself.

Hiato turned away from her and started walking; he saw a servant walking past and stopped them.

"Excuse me, but could you please tell me where Vestri Court is?" He asked

"It's over there sir." He said, pointing.

"Thank you, and please don't call me sir, call me Hiato." Hiato smiled at the servant and walked in the direction he had indicated. He noticed a large crowd was gathering where the duel would take place _I guess the whole school knows about it_ he smiled as he approached the crowd, the students turned to face him and parted so he could get into the middle of the circle.

Guiche was already waiting for him; he looked like he had completely recovered from earlier, Hiato could tell just from looking at him that Guiche was confident he could beat Hiato. As Hiato emerged from the crowd an arrogant smile spread across Guiches face.

"Well I'm surprised you came after all, I thought that maybe you would chicken out." Guiche taunted. Hiato smiled. "I could say the same to you." He replied

Guiche just laughed. "Let's see if you can still talk to me like that after our duel."

Hiato assumed a fighting pose, right foot behind him; he made fists with both hands and held them up at chest height. "Oh I won't need to; your pride will be shattered so insulting you would be a waste of my time." Hiato smirked.

Guiche laughed again. "Do you really believe you can defeat me? I guess I have to teach you a lesson about humility." He pulled out a rose, Hiato took a step back as he did, but didn't let his guard down _Looks can be deceiving_ he said to himself. Guiche waved the rose and a single petal fell off. It landed and a suit of armor emerged from the ground where the petal had landed. It stood a little taller than Guiche and had a lance.

"My name is Guiche the Bronze. I am an earth mage, so therefore your opponent will be the bronze golem, Valkyrie." He smirked.

_Figures, I guessed he wouldn't be fighting me himself _Hiato examined the Valkyrie, looking for a weak point. Without warning the Valkyrie charged straight at Hiato, holding its lance out in front of itself. Hiato was nearly caught off guard but managed to dodge the spear, jumping left. _Its fast, but it shouldn't be too difficult to dodge its attacks_ his left foot landed on the ground and he then jumped at the Valkyrie, swinging his left fist at its head. Its blow collided but didn't do much damage. Hiato jumped back as the Valkyrie swung its lance round, but the tip of it hit his hip, and he spun around and landed on his knee.

_Darn, that punch didn't do much _He stood back up _I'm guessing that thing must be hollow, if so I hope it can't just repair itself if I manage to break off its arm or destroy the helmet_, the crowd was watching intently, Louise was anxious, her familiar did seem to know how to fight, but she doubted he could actually defeat a Valkyrie.

The Valkyrie again charged at Hiato, this time swinging the lance towards the right side of Hiato's head. This time Hiato was ready for the attack, and he managed to duck under the lance, as he prepared to counterattack he noticed the Valkyrie swinging its other arm towards him, he couldn't block in time and the Valkyries fist connected with his face, knocking him backwards. The Valkyrie grabbed the lance with both hands and swung it downwards towards Hiato who barely managed to get out the way; he got onto his feet and jumped backwards away from the Valkyrie.

_Dammit, I should have noticed that sooner, at this rate that thing is going to beat me_ The Valkyrie turned to face him, and charged again, this time holding its spear out in front again, suddenly Hiato got an idea. Time seemed to slow down for Hiato as the Valkyrie got closer, Hiato seemed to stumble to his right; the Valkyrie saw this and held the spear out further. _It's now or never_ Hiato thought. As the spear was about to hit him, Hiato twisted his body to the right, turning his back to the Valkyrie, and out of the spears way. His left elbow was sticking out, and the spear passed in-between his arm and body, as the Valkyries elbow got level with his, Hiato trapped it under his arm, and using all his strength, twisted to the left and snapped the Valkyries arm off. As he was turning he put the rest of his strength into a punch, which he hurled straight into the Valkyries face. The force of the punch shattered the Valkyries head into pieces, and time sped up again for Hiato.

He stumbled backwards a little before regaining his footing and looked at the Valkyrie he had defeated, it was crumbling into dust _phew, and at least I only have to kill them once_ he let out a little smile before resuming a fighting pose. The whole crowd was shocked, even Guiche was surprised. However he overcame his surprise quickly and then shouted. "No matter, I have more where that came from! And this time they won't go easy on you!" He waved his rose and 6 more petals fell off, all forming Valkyries. Hiato quickly scanned them _6 on 1, I've had worse odds stacked against me, but that's when I was fighting people, not Valkyries _Louise was worried, she had been surprised when Hiato had defeated 1 Valkyrie, but there was no way he could beat 6 at once.

"Outnumbering me? That isn't a very honourable thing to do." Hiato taunted. He knew provoking Guiche was a bad idea, but he did it anyway. Guiche smirked. "You actually think you can defeat 6 of my Valkyries at once?" he chuckled.

"Sure I do." Hiato replied _If it gets bad I have no choice, I'll have to use it_ Hiato readied himself for the attack that he knew would come soon. He didn't have to wait long, all 6 Valkyries charged him at once, and he was only able to dodge the first few attacks. One hit him in the shoulder with its lance, one punched him in the stomach, one hit him in the face with the flat side of its sword, one punched him in the ribs, one hit him on the back with its lance and the last one hit his leg with the flat side of its sword. He managed to block a blow every now and then but was taking a beating.

He finally managed to escape from the Valkyries and was down on his knee, panting hard. In the crowd Louise was extremely worried, she could tell that there was no way he could beat all of Guiche's Valkyries. His whole body hurt, and he was also tired, the 6 Valkyries just looked at him with empty eyes. _Guess I have no choice_ he started to concentrate, familiar warmth flowed into his arms, and his eyes gained a faint glow. His arms tensed up, and he took a deep breath. Suddenly a sword appeared out the ground in front of him, it was a decent size, and it looked like it could be used one handed or two handed.

"If you wish to continue this duel, pick up that sword. If you do not, then just say to me that you apologize." Guiche smirked again, confident his enemy was beaten. Hiato breathed out, his arms relaxed and the warmth disappeared, only to be replaced with an aching pain, and the faint glow in his eyes faded. He stood up and looked at the sword _just what I needed; now I can easily beat those tin cans, and I can still keep what I really am a secret_ "You made a big mistake giving me this sword you know." Hiato said, smirking "After all, I am an expert swordsman."

He grabbed the sword with his right hand, and was surprised by what happened. His whole body suddenly felt lighter, almost weightless, he no longer felt tired, and the pain was gone completely _must be my instincts kicking in_ he thought, he then looked at his hand and saw the glowing runes. He had about a second to think about it before only one of the Valkyries charged him. As he turned to face it he noticed it seemed to be moving slower. He held the sword with both hands and as the Valkyrie neared him, it swung its sword downwards. Hiato parried the blow and then with a single strike bisected the Valkyrie. Its 2 halves fell to the ground and crumbled into dust.

1 down, 5 to go

There was an audible gasp from the crowd, and Guiche looked like he couldn't believe his eyes. He shook his head and the held his rose up in front of him. "Well, let's see how you handle 5 at once!" The remaining 5 Valkyries all charged Hiato, weapons ready. Hiato crouched, held his sword out to his left and just dashed forwards, reappearing behind the Valkyries, about a meter from Guiche, and his sword now on his right. As he stood up, Guiche stumbled backwards and landed on his rear, and the 5 remaining Valkyries all split in half and crumbled to dust. Guiche was in total shock, along with the crowd. Hiato rested his sword on his shoulder and looked Guiche in the face.

"Do you surrender?" Hiato asked him.

"Y-Yes!" Guiche said quickly, still in shock. There was an even louder gasp from the crowd now, and Louise could barely believe her eyes. Her familiar, who she had seen being beaten harshly, had just taken down 6 of Guiche's bronze Valkyries like it was nothing at all. She ran out the crowd towards Hiato, as she got to him she grabbed his arm. "Are you ok?" she asked, worried. Hiato just smiled at her and said. "Yeah, feeling just fine." He spun the sword around and planted it into the ground. As he let go of the hilt, his whole body seemed to turn against him. The pain came back and the exhaustion. He collapsed.

_Looks like whatever was nullifying my pain and fatigue has worn off_ he glanced at his right hand and noticed it wasn't glowing anymore. "Hey are you ok?" Hiato looked up at Louise who had a worried look on her face. "Don't worry; I've been through worse..." The last of his strength left him, and he passed out.

* * *

Hiato opened his eyes. He felt groggy, something he wasn't used to. He looked down and was surprised to find he was lying in a bed. _What the... _He thought to himself, and then he looked around, and got another surprise.

He was in the room he 'shared' with Louise, but more importantly, he was in _her_ bed. That's when he noticed her. She was asleep at her desk; her face was towards the window, and despite himself, Hiato smiled. _She really is cute when she's asleep like that_ The door opened and then a certain maid Hiato recognized walked in, carrying washed clothes.

"Siesta?" He asked, surprised.

"Oh Hiato, good to see your awake." Siesta said, smiling.

"Yeah about that, what happened?" He asked

"After you won the fight with Guiche, you passed out. It's been about 2 days, and Miss Louise here was keeping an eye on you the whole time, she even skipped lessons." Hiato looked at the sleeping girl and smiled again. _Maybe she isn't so bad after all._ Siesta put the Clothes down and looked at Hiato. "You're the talk of the school you know; even the servants are talking about the 'brave commoner who defeated a noble'"

Hiato rubbed the back of his head. "Well that's good, I guess." He smiled

Siesta smiled back and walked to the door. "I have to go, I'll chat later." She smiled as she closed the door. _Nice girl_ He thought to himself, and then he heard a moan and turned his head. Louise was starting to wake up, and when she looked at Hiato, she blinked twice before her eyes went wide.

"Hiato!" she yelled, and jumped up, ran to him and gave him a hug. "I was so worried, I was about to order a special elixir to try to help revive you, but it looks like I don't need to." Hiato wasn't sure how to react; he just sat with his arms in the air. "T-thanks." Was all he could manage to say _why am I getting a hug? _He looked at his master, and began to wonder if someone had hit her on the head with something large and heavy. Suddenly she realised what she was doing, and let go and stood up very quickly.

"W-well now that you're awake I have chores for you." She said, with a faint blush. Hiato sighed _I could get my leg chopped off and she would still want me to do the laundry_ he thought dryly. He climbed out of the bed, stood up and faced Louise "What must I do?" he asked.

"I want you to make the bed and then do the laundry, but first get changed." Hiato realised he wasn't in his usual outfit, so he made the bed, put his freshly washed clothes on and then gathered the laundry. As he got to the door he stopped, and turned to face Louise.

"Thanks." He said, meaning it.

Louise was surprised at this. "For what?" she asked quickly

"For keeping an eye on me while I was asleep, thanks a lot." He then smiled at her, Louise felt something catch in her throat as she saw it _He has such a lovely and sweet smile _she thought to herself, suddenly she realised what she had just thought and blushed.

"Well, I did it just because it's a master's job to take care of their familiar! Nothing more!" she said quickly.

Hiato just laughed. "Well, good to know you take your job seriously." He smiled again, and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

* * *

**And that's the third chapter! I tried my best at the fight scene; hope you all enjoyed it. I made this chapter a bit longer because I felt like cutting it at the end of the fight would make the chapter feel rushed and incomplete. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. I would just like to add, I've gone back to school now, so unfortunately I will be focusing mainly on school, but if I have days where I don't get homework I will keep working on this fan fiction to the best of my ability! Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome to the 4****th**** chapter! Thanks to everyone who has read this fan Fiction of mine. I hope you have all enjoyed it thus far. Anyway, onto chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of zero.**

* * *

Hiato glared at the bucket of soapy water, almost as if he was trying to will the Laundry to clean itself. Even after watching Siesta do it, he still was very unsure of how to wash clothes properly _Ugh if I keep standing here she's going to walk down here and kill me for not finishing the Laundry_ He sighed and sat down, getting to work. After about 5 minutes he was almost done and had managed to avoid damaging any of Louise's clothes, yet. As he was washing the last bit of laundry, a skirt, there was a stain that was stubbornly refusing to come out, so he applied more force, and accidentally ripped the skirt.

Hiato could feel there was something behind him on the verge of exploding, he turned around expecting to see a volcano had somehow sneaked up on him, and instead there was a short girl with pink hair standing there, who, in Hiato's eyes, was basically a mini volcano. With a temper. _Between facing her temper and climbing an active volcano, I think I'd rather go with the volcano._ Hiato opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off.

"How dare you be so careless as to damage your masters' clothes! No food for the rest of the day!" She shouted at him. Hiato was about to start to argue when she also added "And trying to argue will result in further punishment!" Hiato shut his mouth, and just turned away. _Jeez, can't she just be a bit forgiving? _Hiato sighed _Well I guess it's her way of getting me back for not listening to her and fighting the duel, and mocking her_ He put one hand to his forehead, then stood up.

"It was just one bit of laundry ok? And it was a mistake. Don't you think trying starving me for a whole day is just a bit much?" Hiato asked, trying to keep his voice calm. He was angry at her, but didn't want it to show. Louise looked at him. "A good familiar would listen to its masters orders and not try to argue!" she said, her voice rising.

"And a good master would forgive its familiar if it made a simple _mistake_." Hiato said, making eye contact with Louise. He knew if he didn't handle this right, he would probably lose what little food he got for about a week.

"Are you saying I am not a good master!?" Louise was practically shouting by now, _No I'm saying you're a shit master _Hiato felt like saying, but he knew if he did he would probably get no food for a month, so he decided on a different response.

"No, I'm not saying that, what I'm saying is, you're expecting too much from me." Hiato said, managing to keep his voice calm. "You're expecting me to be perfect, and do everything you say without question, but I'm only human." _First lie_ "whether you acknowledge it or not, I'm not perfect, and I do make mistakes. But what's important is I learn from those mistakes. An old Teacher of mine once told me that." Hiato then remembered him, Master Edward, and a wave of sadness washed over him, until he realised _Wait I just gave Louise a lesson about Philosophy, over a bit of torn Laundry, wow. _He suddenly felt extremely stupid, and looked at Louise.

Louise however, just looked at her familiar. She almost seemed to be even angrier that her familiar had argued with her, but as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. _But I'm not going to let him know that _she just relaxed, took a deep breath and looked at her familiar. "You will be coming to class with me, take the laundry to my room quickly then come back." Hiato sighed _I can't tell if I just won or lost _but he didn't pursue the argument further.

* * *

Hiato sat down next to Louise behind a desk in the center of the classroom. He was very interested to find out about the magic in this world, back where he was from; there were magical beings, but no actual magic. As the rest of the students got settled a rather plump looking women walked in.

"Good morning class." The women said. "I am Chevreuse. Today you will all be learning about the different elements and levels of mages. Now can anyone tell me the different elements?" She asked, looking around.

A boy with brown hair put his hand up. "Yes?" The teacher asked. "Water, fire, earth and wind." The boy answered. "Very good, now does anyone know the different levels of mages?" a girl with blond hair raised her hand. "Dot, line, triangle and square." The teacher nodded "Very good." Hiato was listening intently, despite all that had happened to him, he was surprisingly intelligent and curious.

"The number of elements you can control affects what level of mage you are." The teacher said. Suddenly a red haired, dark skinned girl put her hand up, and the teacher nodded at her.

"Miss Chevreuse, what level are you?" Kirche asked. The teacher then drew herself up to her full height and announced in a voice full of pride. "I am a triangle earth mage." _So she must be really strong, that's just one level down from the best mages, no wonder she's a teacher _Hiato thought to himself.

"At this point I'm fairly certain that most of you only possess the ability to control one element at a time, is that correct?" Everyone nodded, but then Kirche stood up. "There is one student who can't even control one element, and has a record of zero success." She said mockingly.

Louise felt everyone looking at her, but she simply ignored them. "Isn't that right, Louise the zero?" Kirche taunted, and Louise felt her anger rise, but didn't show it. The teacher cleared her throat and continued the lesson, but Louise felt that someone was still looking at her. She then looked at Hiato who had a strange look on his face; it was almost one of... Sympathy. This made her even angrier.

After class Hiato was walking behind Louise, not saying anything. _So she can't use magic properly, and because of it, everyone picks on her, and she doesn't have any friends. I guess that's why she treats me like dirt, because she needs something to take her anger and frustration out on._ As he was thinking about this, he decided to ask her something.

"So they call you "Louise the zero" because every time you try to do magic it doesn't work?" He asked. She stopped. "Well maybe you're just a late developer, and soon you'll be able to do magic properly, or perhaps you may not have much talent." Louise started to shake from anger, now even her familiar was making fun of her.

"So you agree with them?" She asked, her anger still building. "I never said that, I'm just stating what I know and what I think is the case." She then snapped and yelled at him. "Who do you think you are!? You are just a lowly familiar and you dare make fun of me!? You probably don't even know what it's like to be in my situation! That's it, no meals for a week!" She yelled, with tears in her eyes. "And you will be sleeping outside!"

Hiato's jaw hit the floor _is she serious!? I was just trying to talk to her about it and she goes and does that?! Does she want me to die? _ Then he got angry. _I don't know what it's like huh? You have no idea how easy you've got it, you just have to worry about bullying, I had to worry about getting my head chopped off _He gritted his teeth, and then he decided that was it.

"Ok then, I'll do that." He said bluntly. "I can sleep outside and get no food and in a few days I'll have died from either starvation or the cold." His voice was emotionless, and Louise was taken aback at his tone. "Then you'll be known as the master who let their familiar die, and everyone will make fun of you even more." His face was blank, emotionless. He then did a mocking bow. "Does my _master _have any orders for me?" He asked, still using the same flat tone.

Louise was Shocked _how can he talk about dying in such a casual way?_ She again wondered just who here familiar was. "No, just return to my room." She said. Hiato simply turned and walked away. As he left she remembered the look he had given her in class, it wasn't just sympathy, and it was also one of understanding. He understood her situation, and she felt bad for shouting at him. _No he is just a lowly familiar; I shouldn't accept sympathy from him! And I shouldn't feel bad for shouting at him either! He must know his place she_ nodded her head, but couldn't get what he had said out of her mind, and the way he had said it. She started to wonder if she should apologize _No I will not apologize to him!_ She said in her mind. She shook her head and walked off before she could think about it more.

* * *

Hiato was lying on his hay bed outside Louise's room. His stomach was growling but he ignored it. It was a cold evening but Hiato couldn't feel it at all. He sighed _I guess I kinda did say all that stuff in a way that seemed insulting, probably should have thought it out first_ He sighed _I was also kinda bluffing about dying, I can handle a week without food no problem, and the cold doesn't really bother me _He closed his eyes but before he could fall asleep he heard footsteps and a familiar voice.

"Mister Hiato?" Siesta asked.

"Siesta?" Hiato was surprised. "What's the matter?"

"Well I was sent by the head chef to fetch you, but why are you outside?" she asked.

"Long story short, I'm mad at Louise, she's mad at me, it's a happy balance." He said dryly _why would the head chef want to see me? I haven't tried raiding the pantry yet_ He stood up. "Well, let's see what he wants."

The two of them chatted on their way to the Kitchen; Siesta told Hiato how her duties were going while Hiato explained why he had been sleeping outside Louise's room. When they got to the kitchen, Siesta introduced Hiato to the head chef Marteau. "Greetings!" he said, with a warm smile on his face. "I am the head chef here, and a commoner just like you." He patted Hiato on the back. "All the servants are, so you can relax." There was another 10 chefs in the kitchen, and they all cheered.

Hiato smiled, happy to know that he and Siesta weren't the only commoners at the Academy. "So why did you send Siesta to fetch me?" He asked.

"Well, we wanted to thank you for sticking it to that uptight noble Guiche, so feel free to eat the leftovers from dinner." He pointed to a table behind Hiato, whose eyes went wide. The table had several dozen plates on it, all with delicious looking food on them.

"I can eat all that?" he asked, eagerly. "Sure! Anything for our sword." Hiato sat down behind the table and started eating; as he did the sound of about 11 jaws hitting the floor was clearly audible.

Hiato almost seemed to inhale the first plate of food. And the second. And the third. The chef's eyes (aside from Marteau, who was just laughing) and Siestas went as wide as saucers as they saw the rate at which Hiato was eating. Plate after plate was cleared of food, and Hiato looked as though he was somehow eating faster and faster, stuffing as much food into his mouth at once as he could. After about 3 minutes all the plates were empty and Hiato let out a satisfied burp.

"MAN that was great! Compliments to the chef." He said, smiling at Marteau, who laughed. "Good to see our champion has a great appetite." He then walked over to Hiato. "Anytime you're feeling hungry, feel free to drop by and I'll give you anything I can spare." He held out his hand, and Hiato shook it. "Deal" They both smiled.

Afterwards Hiato was walking back to Louise's room. _Haven't eaten that much in years, I think my table manners have somehow gotten worse_ he laughed and started to climb the stairs. As he got to the floor where Louise's room was, he was surprised to find a salamander waiting there. As he got into the hallway it looked up at him.

_That's Kirche's familiar, why is it outside? _He wondered _Maybe its run off_ He thought to himself. It nudged him in the leg, and walked past him to the stairs he had just climbed. He quickly figured out what it was doing. _It wants me to follow it so it can take me to Kirche, why would she want to see me? _Hiato was cautious, he had already made his master mad enough and didn't want to piss her off anymore. He shook his head.

"Sorry, but tell your master I don't want to see her." He lied back down on his hay bed, and the salamander started to walk towards him. Suddenly the door swung open, hitting the salamander and sending it flying across the hall way. Hiato sat up, very confused as to what had just happened, he looked up to see his pink haired master standing in the doorway. She seemed to have a look of relief on her face when she saw him. She peeked around the door and was surprise to see the salamander, and suddenly she grabbed Hiato by the shirt and threw him into the room, slamming the door.

_She's stronger than she looks_ He thought, rubbing his head where it had made contact with the table. He looked up at his master, who had the strangest expression on her face he had ever seen. He was curious to see what would happen next. "What is the matter, _master_?" he said in the flat tone he was now using with Louise

Anger briefly flashed across her face. She then breathed out then looked Hiato in the eyes. "I am sorry about my behaviour earlier, and the punishment I gave you was unfair. It is lifted, but only on 1 condition." She had a serious look on her face _OK, I seriously need to find out who's been thwacking her on the head, and then start paying them. _"Ok, what's this "condition"?" He asked, but Louise asked him a question instead of answering.

"Why was Kirche's familiar out there?" Hiato shrugged.

"Don't know, best guess she wanted it to fetch me for, some reason." Louise's face twisted. "You are not to go anywhere near her, is that understood?" Hiato was a bit confused.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because her family and mine are long standing rivals, and I refuse to let my familiar become her pawn." Hiato felt even more confused. "What are you talking about? And is that the condition?"

This time it was Louise's turn to be surprised. "Haven't you noticed?" She asked.

"Noticed what?" Hiato asked, still confused. _So that means he doesn't... _She breathed a sigh of relief. "Nothing and the condition is you do not pay more attention to other girls that you do to me." She said with a serious look on her face.

Hiato thought she was joking, until he saw the look on her face, and burst out laughing. "What's so funny?!" Louise demanded. She was getting angry, her familiar was laughing at her, and she didn't know why. Hiato calmed down and looked at her, and then asked. "Are you serious?" He had tears on his face from laughing so hard. "Afraid I'm going to fall in love with someone and then leave you without a familiar? Or is there another reason?" He smirked at her.

Louise suddenly blushed, and shook her head. "N-no, it's just that you should naturally pay more attention to me that anyone else!" She said glaring at him. Hiato just laughed and stood up. "Alright, I understand. Although I can promise you, I won't fall prey to Kirche's charms."

He stood up. "I'm going to be honest with you, I don't like nobles, in fact I probably hate them." He saw the look on Louise's face was a mix of anger and shock. "But despite the fact I may hate what you are, but not necessarily who you are, I actually owe you my life." Hiato looked serious now, and Louise just kept listening. "Back in my world, I was an outcast; I had only 3 friends, and was hunted ruthlessly by the king and his nobles, who wanted me either dead or turned into a slave. I had managed to stay safe for nearly 7 years on my own, but I knew I was running out of time. Each year the hunters got better and better, and each escape got closer and closer. If you hadn't summoned me to be your familiar, I would most likely have been captured or killed the next time the hunters found me." He breathed out. "So that's why I hate nobles."

Louise was in shock. _Hunted for nearly 7 years? An outcast? And if he'd been caught he would either face slavery or death? _Louise just looked at her familiar, then remembered what she had said earlier that day to him _I said he probably didn't know how it felt to be in my situation, but now I realise he probably knows what it's like better than anyone else_ Louise then remembered his reaction to Guiche insulting his parents, but she decided against asking about it.

Hiato had a solemn look on his face; he was remembering everything that had happened to him, from the day his parents died to the day he was summoned to this strange world. "So now you know, I still don't like nobles, and I'm not sorry for how I treat the other students but..." He looked at Louise. "I do know the nobles here are different than the ones in my world, and I am a bit sorry about the way I've been treating you, but even though I owe you my life, it is going to take a while for me to get over my feelings of resentment towards nobles, but I will try." He stood up and walked outside to fetch his hay, and then put it down next to Louise's bed, he then turned to face Louise with a smile.

"Well anyway, we best be getting to bed _master._" Louise had a look of annoyance flash across her face, but noticed he said it in a more playful and joking tone, rather than a mocking tone. "What time must I awaken you tomorrow?"

"Not so early, its void day tomorrow so I want to take you into town and get you a weapon to defend yourself with." She yawned and climbed into bed. _A weapon huh, that ain't a bad idea_ Hiato thought. He lied down on his Hay and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Hiato?"

His eyes shot open and he looked at Louise, a look of surprise on his face. He pinched himself to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep. "That's the first time you've used my name." Hiato eyed Louise suspiciously. "Yeah, is something wrong?"

"Why were you an outcast?" she asked

Hiato sighed. "Sorry, but I can't tell you." He looked at Louise. "It's just every time I told someone back in my world, they would immediately call the guards to arrest me, or run away in fear." He looked back at the floor. "I'll tell you later, when I'm more sure of what your reaction will be." He lied back down and closed his eyes.

Louise on the other hand just stared at her familiar. _Just what is he? _She had a feeling inside her, burning to know what he really was, but she would respect his privacy... for now, she would find a way to get the answer out of him. She lied back down on her bed, and as she drifted off to sleep, she had a smile on her face as she realized something.

Her familiar could be more amazing than anything that's ever been seen before.

* * *

**And that's chapter 4! In case it isn't obvious (in which case I am a horrible writer) the parring will be Louise X Hiato. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the part about Hiato's past. I apologize for any errors or mistakes I made, I'm still getting the hang of this. If any of you have noticed anything I'm not doing good or if there's just a big glaring mistake I've made somewhere that I missed, please write a review and tell me, I'm trying to make this story the best I can. Anyway, Thanks again everybody for reading, and I will see YOU in the next chapter, bye bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 5 of my Fan fiction! Thanks again to everyone who's read up to this point and reviewed; I'm honestly amazed at how many people have actually read this thing. In case it isn't obvious, I've decided each chapter is going to be slightly longer than the previous one. That way I can get more into each chapter. Now on we go to chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own familiar of zero.**

* * *

_They were standing by the door, smiling at him, their features just blurs, but he could still see their smiles. He had tears in his eyes, he knew what had happened. They had been found, after all this time, and now they were going to stop him from being captured or killed as well. He didn't want this; he just wanted a normal life, now they were going to die, leaving him all alone._

"_Hurry Alice, leave now. We will keep the soldiers busy while you escape with Hiato." The women said. She then smiled at him. "You've grown up so much; I'm so proud of you." He just kept crying "NO NO please! Don't go!" he shouted. The man at the door was also smiling. "We have to; it's our job to keep you safe, to make sure you can keep on living. Don't worry; we will meet again one day." He just kept crying. He was fighting against the person carrying him, trying to break free. He didn't want to escape; escape meant he would live in a world where everyone hated him, just because of what he had been born as. He wanted to die along with them._

"_N-no! I don't want to go!" He pleaded. The man and women just smiled. "You must, it is the only way you can survive." The women said, and the man nodded. There was a banging on the door and he stopped struggling. As he did he was carried across the room to a trap door. As he was going down he looked at the 2 of them one last time, they still had smiles on their faces. "Goodbye Hiato, we love you." They said in unison, and Hiato started crying again, and then the trap door slammed shut._

* * *

Hiato woke with a start. He sat up and looked around, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw he was in Louise's room. _It was just a dream_. It had been a while since he had dreamed about that day, but it still wasn't any easier for him to handle. He could feel tears in his eyes, and he wiped them away. He stood up and looked at Louise. She was still asleep, and Hiato smiled. It was still fairly early in the morning, and Louise had said he was not to wake her until the 8th hour of the morning. Hiato checked the clock that was in Louise's room. He had just less than 30 minutes until he was supposed to wake Louise up. He looked at her again. _She still looks cute when she's sleeping, and she's also pretty. _Hiato blinked when he realised what he had just thought, and he shook his head. _No no no! I can't think that! She's a noble! And my master! I can't like her! _Hiato kept shaking his head, trying to clear it of these thoughts. _Exercise will help, maybe then I'll stop thinking like this. _

Hiato left the room and made his way outside. He had decided, since he was no longer on the run, he might as well get some training done. While he'd been on the run, the only exercise he got was running, now that he was staying in one place, he decided he might as well build up some strength so he could better defend Louise. When that thought popped into his head, he immediately shook his head. _No I'm training to get stronger so that if anyone comes after me, I won't have to run anymore. _He nodded at this and turned his mind to the task at hand

For starters he decided to run one lap around the school. He managed it in pretty decent time, and did another 2 laps. After that he started to punch the air like he was attacking people, and dodged invisible blows. This was his favourite method of training, taught to him by his martial arts teacher. After about 10 minutes he sat down for a break. _I need something to practice my sword skills with; they are getting a bit rusty._ A quick glance around told him no object in his immediate area would qualify as a sword, but he was distracted by someone calling his name.

"Hey Hiato!" A girl he recognized shouted as she walked towards him.

"Hey Siesta, good to see you." He stood up and smiled at her.

"Thanks it's good to see you too." She said, smiling back. "So what was that you were just doing?"

"Oh that? Just some training I'm doing until I have to wake my master. Figured I might as well keep in shape, after all I am eating grand feasts whenever I visit the kitchen." Hiato laughed.

"Good to see that, but I'm guessing it's more than just wanting to keep in shape right?" She gave Hiato a look that made him blush.

"D-don't be ridiculous, why else would I be training?" Hiato asked, laughing nervously.

"Maybe you want to protect Louise?" she asked, smiling. At that moment, Hiato blushed a little.

"Well yeah, that's obvious I'm her familiar, it's my job to protect her." He said quickly. "Sorry, but I've really got to go, don't want to face an active volcano today." Siesta just had a look of confusion on her face as Hiato ran back to Louise's room. _Why am I acting like this all of a sudden? Did I suddenly just start liking her? _He wondered, then realised something. _It's because she actually used my name, and treated me like a person. Most people would have just backed away and demanded to know what I really was, but she asked. She could have demanded it as my master, but she asked. _He reached the door to her room, and sighed. _I'll tell her soon, I just need to find out one more thing about this world._

He opened the door and walked inside. He smiled when he saw Louise was still asleep. He walked over and shook her until she woke up. "Hey rise and shine." He said.

Louise sat up and yawned. Hiato threw her clothes at her. "So where are we going today?" He asked.

"A small town nearby, it's a quick visit, just to get you a weapon." She stood up and got changed, Hiato turned around as she did. After she was done they walked down the tower and started to make their way to the front gate but were intercepted by Kirche. As she saw Hiato she grabbed him in a hug.

"Oh Hiato, it's so good to see you. You were very rude to me; you ignored my invitation last night." She wined, pressing herself against his arm.

"Invitation? Your salamander just showed up out of nowhere and basically asked me to follow it. It's not exactly an invitation you know, it's not like I can understand it if it's trying to talk to me." _Well that's a lie_ "And would you kindly stop pressing your bust against my arm." Hiato pulled away from Kirche, and noticed Louise had a smug grin on her face.

"That's right Kirche, stay away from my familiar." She said, walking up next to Hiato. Kirche just laughed. "Oh please, I'll have your familiar wrapped around my finger before you know it, after all, men don't like women as flat as a field." Kirche laughed, and Hiato could feel Louise get angry. "Also, he won't want to stay a familiar to someone who's a total failure." She laughed even louder, and looked at Hiato. "Come on darling, just forget about her and spend all your time with me, I won't treat you like a slave." She opened her arms as if expecting a hug; Louise was on the verge of exploding from anger.

Hiato put a hand on Louise's shoulder and looked at Kirche. "Well if she's a total failure how did she manage to summon me? I know she's never succeeded in casting a spell before, but if she was a total failure I wouldn't be here now would I?" Louise looked at him, and she felt pride swelling up in her, her familiar was defending her. "That's right Kirche, see you're wrong, I'm not a zero." She said smugly. Kirche just looked at her.

"Ok you're Louise the one then." She then laughed. "How about minus one? Because summoning a mere human is probably worse than failing the summoning ritual." She laughed again, and then looked at Hiato, and her voice turned seductive again. "But you're not just an ordinary human: you're the best man alive." She said.

Suddenly Hiato burst out laughing. "You first insult Louise for summoning me and then compliment me in the same breath? You're pathetic, but you were right about 1 thing, I'm not an ordinary human." He then gave her a serious look. "Give it up, no matter how hard you try: you won't be able to get me to leave my master. I was summoned here to be her familiar and to protect her. And that's what I'm going to do. I'm not the kind of guy who would just walk out on a friend." He turned around and started walking. Louise gave Kirche a mocking look and then went after her familiar. _I don't care; he will still be mine _Kirche said to herself.

They got to the gate and got on horse that were waiting for them. Louise was sitting in front, Hiato behind her. During the trip to town, Louise was thinking about what had happened, her familiar had defended her, and called her his friend. Then she thought about what he had said "_I'm not an ordinary human_". She started to think about that. She realised what she had thought last night before falling asleep could be true. She suddenly got excited, but a little scared at the same time. _He could be some kind of shape shifter or a monster of some kind_ _but_ _whatever he is, I'm going to find out_. She nodded her head

They arrived at town about 3 hours later and stopped to have lunch. Louise decided to give Hiato some proper food, which he promptly devoured very quickly. To avoid running out of money, she decided against giving him more food, and they started to look for a weapon's shop. They eventually found one and went inside.

"Good morning miss, how can I help you?" the shop owner asked.

"I need a sword for my familiar." She said. "The best you have." At this the shop keeper grinned and went behind the curtain. Hiato looked at Louise.

"Ya know I don't think getting the best sword will be necessary..." He started but Louise just shot him a look. The shop owner reappeared, holding a large gold sword. "Here it is my best piece." Hiato took the sword in his hand and swung it around a little.

"How much?" Louise asked.

"300 gold pieces." The owner declared.

Louise's face fell. "300? You can buy a mansion for that!"

"And it would be a better use of money than buying this sword." Hiato said. Louise and the shop owner looked at him; he was looking at the sword. "It's too heavy, so it would slow down whoever's using it, unless they were strong enough to handle the weight, and secondly, it's made out of gold, which is VERY fragile, meaning this thing will break as soon as I swing it against another sword too hard." He handed the sword back to the shop owner. "Sorry, but for a warrior this is no good, I need a real weapon."

Suddenly a laugh could be heard from the corner of the shop. "You hear that? That's a real swordsman there, he ain't some stupid noble who's gonna believe everything ya tell him!" Hiato turned; the voice was coming from a sword in one of the barrels. He was surprised, but not as much as he would have been had he seen this when he first arrived in this world. "A talking sword?" He asked, walking over to the barrel and pulling the sword out. It was old and rusted, and the cross guard had lost its colour.

"Yeah that's right! I'm the talking sword Derfflinger, but you can call me Derf." Hiato lifted the sword and swung it around several times. He had a satisfied smile on his face. He then turned to the shop owner. "How much?"

"100 bronze pieces." The owner replied. "Normally I wouldn't sell stuff that cheap, but he's been a pain in my arse since the day I found him, so I'm willing to give him to you cheap." Hiato looked at Louise, who had a surprised look on her face. "I'll take it." He said, smiling. Louise just looked at the sword, and then sighed. "Fine, you're the swordsman after all." She turned to the shop owner and started to sort through her money.

"All right!" Derf yelled. "Finally I'm getting out of this shack and I can get back to being a sword again!" The shop keeper spun around. "You shut your mouth! Don't call this a shack! It's a very well maintained building!" Derf laughed "Still a shack in my eyes." Hiato looked at Derf. "Say wanna be partners?" He asked. "Sure thing, Partner!" Derf replied, and Hiato nodded. Louise looked at them and sighed _I hope I don't regret this_ She walked towards the door. "Come on, let's go." The shop owner threw Derf's sheath at Hiato who caught it and sheathed Derf, he then slung him over his back and walked out the door after Louise.

* * *

When they got back to the academy, it was already late evening. Louise had Hiato do her Laundry. He didn't mind, it would be a chance for him to clean Derf. After he was done cleaning Derf and doing the laundry, which he was quite good at now, he noticed something; he hadn't seen Siesta since he got back. _Wonder where she's gone_ Hiato shrugged _Maybe she has a day off, I'll ask the chef later_ He took the laundry up to Louise's room, put it down, then made his way over to the kitchen.

As he walked in, he could tell Marteau was cooking something good, and he was suddenly aware of how hungry he was. "Hey Marteau, mind getting me something to eat? Im starving." Hiato shouted across the kitchen, and took a seat at his usual table. The head chef laughed. "You're always hungry, so I always have food ready!" The chefs and helpers all helped carry plates of food to Hiato's table, who promptly started devouring them as each one arrived. Once he was done, and after a satisfied burp he decided it was time to question the head chef.

"So where's Siesta gone?" He asked.

"She's not working here anymore." Marteau said his voice suddenly more serious. "She has been taken by Count Mott to be his servant, and many rumours say he may make her his mistress." At this Hiato shot onto his feet. "WHAT!?" He yelled in shock. Despite not being a noble, and not knowing a lot about them, he knew exactly what it meant when a noble made a woman his mistress "She doesn't have a choice, her family needs the money."

_I have to save her, I don't care, she's my friend, I won't let some asshole noble do what he wants with her _He looked at Marteau. "What can you tell me about this Count Mott?"

"Count Mott is a Noble who lives around here, his only real duties are serving as an occasional messenger for the palace, otherwise he just sits at his estate and does nothing." Marteau gave Hiato a serious look. "He's extremely arrogant, and treats anyone lower than him like dirt, even nobles who have lesser titles are treated like peasants, and he sucks up to nobles who have higher positions and titles than him." Hiato was nodding, taking this all in. "Also he's a triangle mage." Hiato stopped nodding at that _That's going to be a problem, dammit guess this time I really have no choice, but only as a last resort_ "Thanks Marteau, do you know where his estate is?"

Marteau shook his head. "Sorry, no idea." Hiato nodded and started to walk towards the exit. He reached it just as Marteau called him. "Wait, you aren't planning to go get her back are you!?" Hiato looked at the head chef, and just grinned.

"You bet, she's my friend, I have to save her." He nodded to the head chef and walked out. The sun was really low in the sky, and then Hiato's conscience kicked in.

_This is an incredibly bad idea. I could get killed, or worse Louise could find out and get mad at me _Hiato chuckled as he made his way up the stairs, he would ask Louise where Mott's estate was, make up a lie to get out the room, then go save Siesta _Unless his Estate happens to be on the OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY. In that case... I'll go anyway. _Hiato opened the door to his room, and as he did Louise turned to see him, she was still in her school uniform.

"Where have you been? You missed supper." She asked

"Sorry, got caught up talking to the head chef, and I didn't miss supper, the chef gave me plenty of food." He chuckled. "Don't worry I'm not about to starve to death." He smiled, and Louise just got an annoyed look on her face. "I was wondering why you were spending so much time wandering around; I thought you were chatting to that maid girl." At the mention of Siesta, Hiato's smile faded a little, and then he looked at Louise.

"Why would you think I'm chatting to her? Would you be jealous if I was?" At that, Louise's face went red, and she looked away. "No, I'm just checking to see if you're obeying my command and not giving more attention to another girl that you are to me."

"Don't worry I'm not." He took a deep breath. "Where is Count Mott's estate?" He asked.

Louise was surprised by this question. "Why?"

Hiato sighed, he would have to tell her, but only half the truth, he would lie about why he wants to know "Siesta has been taken there as a servant, and apparently he wants to make her his mistress." Louise seemed a little surprised by this. "I'm just curious as to where it is so I can go and visit her." Louise eyed him suspiciously.

"His estate is to the north of the academy, about half an hour by horse back. If you plan to visit her, you better behave." She glared at him to reinforce her point.

"I will, I will." Hiato said innocently. He then walked over and grabbed Derf, and walked towards the door.

"Familiar, where are you going?" Louise asked. "Just to give Derf another wash, I won't be long." Before she could ask anymore he went through the door, closed it, then slung Derf on his back and left the tower.

"You're going to save that girl aren't you?" Derf asked.

"Yeah, so what?" Hiato said back. "If you don't want to come I can leave you behind."

The sword just chuckled. "Nah I'm fine with it, In fact I'm glad, been a while since I've knocked some heads around."

"Well I'm not planning to kill anyone, just knock them out, got it?" Hiato asked the sword. "Got it." It replied

Hiato exited the academy on the north side and started running. Running to the estate would be no problem; He could run for 2 hours straight, and only feel minor fatigue.

When he got to the estate the sun had disappeared and the moons were out. _Louise will be on her way to find me, I don't have long_. The house was massive, but he had seen bigger. He crept along the bushes that marked the perimeter of the estate, and saw a gate with 2 guards. As silently as he could, he crept up on one and knocked him out, then quickly drew Derf and bludgeoned the second one unconscious. He passed through the gate, the yard was mostly vacant, and made straight for the main house.

He burst through the main doors to find he was in a large hallway, and saw a man wearing a very flamboyant outfit standing on the other side of it. "Who are you?" He demanded. Hiato drew Derf, and simply said. "A friend of Siesta's, now give her back!" The count laughed, and simply waved his arm. "Guards." Suddenly about 3 men appeared from nowhere and surrounded Hiato. _2 on the left, 1 on the right, take the left first, right second._

The one guard on his left swung his sword down on Hiato, who parried it and then smashed him in the face with the butt of Derf, he then swung around and brought the sword down on the second guard who barely managed to block, but Hiato just head butted him and then whacked him on the head with Derf's blunt side. The third guard lunged at Hiato, sticking his sword forward. Hiato parried the blow and just punched the guard in the face. Afterwards he turned to face the count. "Now return Siesta to the academy."

The count just looked at him, and then smiled. "You're better than I thought." He chuckled. "I propose a duel to determine the girls fate, if I win, I keep the girl, if you win, I will let her go."

"Deal." Hiato said, and pointed his sword at the count, who laughed.

"Tell me your name and who you are, or else I won't release the girl." Mott said, smiling arrogantly.

"I am Hiato, and I am the familiar of Louise Valliere! And friend to Siesta!" He was ready to fight.

"Ah, you must be the human familiar I've heard about. I am Count Mott, and I am a triangle mage who specialises in water magic, and soon I will send you back to the academy, but not without a few scratches." He smiled and waved his wand, summoning water out of the glass in his hand, and forming them into spears of ice. _Not good, well here goes _Hiato concentrated, and started to feel the same tingling feeling flow through him, his eyes gained a faint glow, and he then felt his skin get a little warmer. _It worked, but won't last long_

He charged at Mott, who fired a wave of ice spears at him. He dodged by jumping to the left, and as he landed kept running towards him. The count fired another wave which Hiato jumped out the way of, but as he landed he saw the count had saved 1 spear. He smirked. "It's over, peasant boy." The spear flew towards him, and as it was about to reach him it melted in mid-air and the water it was made up of splashed harmlessly against his skin. Mott took a step back, and his eyes went wide "I-Impossible..."

Seeing his chance, Hiato stood up and ran towards Mott, who was still baffled. Hiato jumped in the air, and Mott tried to summon up some more spears, but as he held his wand in the air, Hiato sliced it in half. The force of the blow knocked the count backwards, and he stumbled over.

"Yield, I yield!" He shouted, suddenly cowering. "What do you want?" He asked, peeking through his arms at Hiato.

"First off, I want you to send Siesta back to the academy; secondly I want you to give all the gold you have to Siesta's family." He pointed Derf at Mott. "All. Of. It." He said slowly. The count nodded, and then called a servant to go and fetch Siesta and tell her everything that had happened.

At that moment Louise, Kirche and Tabitha charged through the front door, expecting the worst, only to find Hiato standing over the Count, who appeared to have wet his pants. "Oh uh... hey." Hiato said, putting a hand behind his head and smiling sheepishly.

"Hiato!" Louise yelled, and ran across the hall, giving him a big hug. Once again Hiato wondered who was this mysterious person that was clubbing Louise really hard on the head. The hug lasted about 3 seconds, and then Louise broke out of it, blushing, but furious. "H-How dare you... Lie to me... and go running off to a noble's estate... all for some servant girl?!" She glared at him, and Hiato subconsciously took a step backwards. "S-sorry?" He stammered out. Before Louise could say anymore, Siesta walked in.

"Hiato?" She had a look of surprise and relief on her face. "I heard what happened, why did you-"

Hiato cut her off. "It's because you're my friend, and once I heard what had happened, I knew I couldn't just let some rich pompous nobleman take advantage of you, I knew I needed to help you." He smiled. "Now come on, let's go back to the academy, I'm sure all of the other servants are missing you-" Hiato was cut off as Louise grabbed his ear and dragged him off.

"In future you will inform me of things like this you plan to do, and you will not do them! Are we clear?" she said in a very angry tone. "Y-yes ma'am." Hiato replied, amidst yelping's of pain.

Siesta just smiled, she was happy. She had a friend, and as Hiato was dragged off, she placed her hand over her heart.

* * *

**And that's the 5****th**** chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it, sorry for the late update but with school I (unfortunately) will be only able to publish 1 chapter a week, I kinda rushed this so I could get it done, sorry for any errors, or anything and thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 6! Thanks again to all those who have reviewed this, I really appreciate it. Anyway, like I said at the end of the last chapter, I will most likely only be able to put up 1 chapter a week due to school. Also I am planning a crossover of FOZ and something else; I still need to decide on what it will be of, but for now, on with chapter 6!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ.**

* * *

Hiato opened his eyes, his whole body felt tired. He sat up and stretched, yawning as he did. He sighed; he knew exactly why he felt like this. Last night when he had gone to save Siesta, he had been forced to use some of his power in his fight with count Mott, and as always when he used some of it, it drained his energy considerably, as noted by how he fainted shortly after Louise, Kirche and Tabitha, a small girl with blue hair that seemed to be one of few words, had arrived. He could barely remember anything, all he did remember was waking up to see a clear night sky above him, and Louise looming over him, he then slipped in and out of consciousness until they got back to the academy, where one of the teachers had managed to restore his energy a little bit so he wasn't tittering on the edge of blacking out. What followed was first another hug from Louise, then a scolding, an explanation from him, and then more shouting. Hiato seriously wondered how long Louise could shout for without taking a breath.

He shook his head, that wasn't important, what was important was his current state. All his life, whenever he had used his powers, even for short periods, it had left him drained. His shoulders sunk at this, he knew he was weak. To everyone else, he seemed strong, but he was weak. He knew this because his parents had been able to use their powers like it was nothing, but he had always struggled. He then realised something and chuckled. _I'm the last of my kind, and I've spent my whole life being chased because of what I am, and the power I have, but that which people fear about me, I can't even control. _He sighed, and then stood up.

Turning to face his sleeping master, he was deciding the best way to wake her up. Despite all Hiato had been through, he could still be immature, and he wasn't afraid of Louise threatening to take his food away. He started to run through his options. _Tilt the bed and make her fall out? No I don't have enough energy. Bucket of ice cold water to the face? No, she'll probably be awake by the time I get back up here. Hmm._ He couldn't think of anything good, so he sighed. He instead decided on something boring, he started to poke her in the face on her cheek. After about 5 pokes she opened her eyes and yawned. Hiato kept poking her, and then Louise shook her head, and then sat upright.

"FAMILIAR! STOP IT!" she roared at Hiato, whom she slapped in the face, sending him into the wall. Hiato again was taken off guard at just how strong she really was, when she was mad. He stood up, holding the side of his face. "Jeez, I just woke you up, now your yelling at me for things you _told _me to do?" He asked in a somewhat mocking tone. Louise just glared at him, and then got out of bed. After she was changed she turned to face him.

"Today when I go to class you shall remain outside with the rest of the familiar, are we clear?" She said in a tone that offered no argument. "Sure" Was Hiato's reply, he didn't really care if he did or didn't accompany her to class. To him, it would be time to just relax and try to get some strength back.

Once they were near the tower in which the class was taking place, Louise turned around to face him. "Stay over there with the rest of the familiars." She said, pointing to where a large group of different animals were in the courtyard. "Of course, _master_." He said his usual tone, and despite herself, Louise let out a tiny smile. After Louise walked off, Hiato walked into the courtyard and surveyed the familiars. There were lots of them, from common beasts to strange and exotic ones. As he walked past them, they all looked up at him, recognising what he was despite his outward appearance. He found that, despite that, they all seemed to be acting friendly towards him, and Hiato smiled. As he turned his head though, his expression turned from one of happiness to one of total shock, and he stopped moving.

_I-impossible, i-it can't be... _Hiato's mouth was open, and his eyes as wide as plates. One of the familiars summoned was a _Dragon._ Hiato blinked about 6 times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The dragon was looking around, and then made eye contact with him. _Impossible, it can't be... a blue one? _The dragon didn't break the eye contact, from a simple glance it could tell what he was. Hiato regained control of his face and then made a serious expression. He walked over to the dragon, and as he got within arm's reach, he stopped. The dragon was fairly big, but not massive. It had blue scales, and green eyes. Hiato reached out a hand and placed it on the dragons head, and then closed his eyes. All the other familiars just looked at the 2 of them; they understood what was going on.

Hiato opened his eyes. "I see..." he said _so she just has blue scales, that's it. She doesn't have the power of a legendary blue dragon. Obviously there must be differences in this world..._ He looked again at the dragon, and smiled. "My apologies, I mistook you for something else, no offense." The dragon simply moved its head closer to his, his hand still on top of its head. "It is a pleasure to meet you Sylphid, or should I say, Illococoo?" Suddenly the dragon reared its head back, and its eyes seemed to go wide. Hiato just laughed. "I'm sorry, I suppose I did read a bit much, but I suppose you did the same?" The dragon then nodded, and moved its head forwards only a little, and Hiato let out another laugh. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, in exchange you can't tell anyone what you know about me." The dragon seemed to pause for a moment, before rubbing its head against Hiato's chest, and Hiato just rubbed its head. "Hey, I have an idea..."

* * *

Louise walked out of class, glad it was over. It had been another lesson of Professor Kaita telling them of how great wind magic was and not actually doing any teaching. She sighed, everyone else felt the same. As she got to the entrance to the courtyard with all the familiars, she looked around for Hiato, and then got angry when she couldn't see him.

"Dammed, familiar, he can never just do what he's told, can he?" At that moment, Kirche and Tabitha walked up behind her.

"Something wrong Louise?" Kirche mocked. "Your familiar finally decided to run off?" Louise turned to face her arch rival. "Either that or he's off talking with that servant girl, ohhh what was her name?" Kirche said, and smiled when she saw Louise start to shake from rage. "At least my familiar obeys me, Flame come here!" she shouted into the courtyard at her salamander, which she quickly found. But then what happened shocked her, her familiar just stood still. Everyone was having the same problem; their familiars were ignoring their masters. "What is going on!?" Kirche asked, frustrated at the fact her familiar was ignoring her. Even Tabitha, who had tried to summon Sylphid about 4 times, was confused. That's when Louise noticed it.

All the familiars were looking at something in the sky.

Louise turned her head to see what the familiars were looking at, and as she did, her jaw hit the floor.

Up in the sky, just close enough so you could make them out was a dragon, and someone _riding _the dragon.

It wasn't the dragon that was shocking, it was Tabitha's familiar so Louise recognized it, but who was riding it, THAT was what shocked Louise.

It was Hiato.

Her familiar, was _riding _Tabitha's familiar, and was even more shocking, was how comfortable he looked, like it was second nature to him to ride a dragon. They were doing stunts; ups downs, lefts rights, and tricks that made Louise's eyes nearly bulge out of her head.

"Louise what's wrong?" Kirche asked the little pinkette, who gave no reply save poking Kirche then pointing upwards. Kirche looked up, and her jaw also hit the floor. "T-tabitha, you're familiar..." The blue haired girl looked up, and the book she was holding in her hand slipped between her fingers and landed on the ground. One by one the rest of the students were turning their eyes skyward and seeing the 2 familiars in the sky, all having equally shocked expressions.

Meanwhile Hiato was having the time of his life. The feeling of pure bliss he was experiencing was something he had forgotten, and thankfully he found that riding Sylphid was still perfectly natural to him. The kind of tricks they were executing were easy to Hiato and Sylphid, but to the large crowd of onlookers, of which he was completely unaware, they were incredible.

_Time for something risky. _He thought, he leaned forwards, and Sylphid understood immediately, they turned to face the academy, and then Hiato noticed the crowd. _Oh crap. Well I guess it's a bit hard to be covert when doing this, but I might as well do something to impress them. _Sylphid leaned forwards towards the crowd of students and familiars watching them. She gave a few more flaps of her wings to gain some height, and then gave one last flap to send them towards the ground, and then she folded her wings close to her body, and started to gain speed.

Hiato felt adrenaline flood his body, and he started to grin like a complete idiot. He hadn't felt this happy in a long time. He wasn't at all worried what would happen if they screwed up, not the least bit scared of missing and going _SPLAT _on the ground. Instead he was waiting for the moment when Sylphid would use the momentum from the dive to swoop upwards, he knew that she wanted to get as close to the ground as possible before turning upwards, and she knew he wanted the exact same thing.

Down in the courtyard, people were starting to panic. The dragon was getting closer at an incredible speed, and people were starting to whisper about what it was doing, was it attacking, or doing something else, everyone wondered, But Louise, Kirche and even Tabitha were still transfixed by what was going on. Louise didn't know why, but she had faint feelings of happiness and bliss, and she also felt that there was no danger of her familiar and Tabitha's crashing. The dragon was nearing the ground, and the familiars weren't moving, confident that the stunt would succeed.

Hiato narrowed his eyes, waiting for the right moment. He was extremely close now. The excitement was almost unbearable for him, and then the seconds seem to take hours, everything slowed down. The ground got closer and closer, and at the last possible moment, he yanked on the dragon's neck. Sylphid spread her wings, and giving one hard flap, pushed herself upwards, doing a near 90 degree change of course. At that moment Hiato couldn't take it, and he exploded into a fit of punching the air and shouting. The dragon stabilised and flew around the academy a few times before slowing down and landing in the courtyard with the rest of the familiars.

Hiato leapt off, a massive grin on his face. He walked over to his master, who was completely dumbstruck at what she had just seen. "What?" He asked innocently. "Stop standing around with your mouth open like that before someone puts a foot in it." He walked past her and back towards their room. Louise slowly got a grip on reality, and turned around to watch her familiar walk off. Tabitha walked up to her dragon almost as soon as it landed to check if it was ok, and she was surprised to find it was the happiest it had been in its whole life. _Just who is he? _The question rang through Louise's mind.

* * *

Headmaster Osmond turned from the window with a frown on his face. He had known that Louise's familiar was the legendary Gandalfr, which meant by extension she was a void mage, but the skills he had just displayed were mind boggling to say the least. The old man sat down. The fact he had managed to ride the dragon was an achievement in itself, as dragon familiars usually only let their master's ride them, and the skills he had displayed were far beyond any dragon riders Osmond had seen in his long life. He wasn't aware that Gandalfr also possessed the ability to ride beasts like dragons as though it was second nature, but Osmond suspected something else.

He had studied the boy closely while he was on the dragon, and noticed how he seemed to be able to direct the dragons movements without ever talking to it, suggesting a mental link of some kind, but that would be impossible, as only masters can have mental connections to familiars. He sighed, this mystery wouldn't be solving itself anytime soon.

At that moment there was a knock on the door. "Come in." The headmaster said. The head of his old friend, Professor Colbert, appeared in the door way. "Ah Professor, good to see you, I was meaning to talk to you about something." "Likewise." The bald professor replied. They had received a message from the palace earlier that day, informing them that Fouquet the Crumbling dirt was in the area round the academy, and a large mound of earth had been found near the edge of the forest. Osmond had decided he was going to send someone out to find the thief, but that wasn't his concern for the moment.

Osmond told Colbert all about that he had observed, and asked Colbert if he knew anything Gandalfr possessing the ability to ride beasts like it was natural. "Can't say I have, and to be honest, that's what I came to talk to you about, what happened in the courtyard." Osmond nodded, and looked at him. "I think we should ask him about what happened." Colbert nodded in agreement.

* * *

Back in Louise's room, Hiato was sitting down on his hay bed, leaning against the wall. Louise was standing in front of him, in line with the end of her bed, with a look of amazement on her face. He sighed, which made Louise jump, and then Hiato chuckled.

"W-what's so funny?" Louise asked.

"The fact you're standing there with about a million questions, and can't seem to get started, while you're probably the loudest person I know." He looked up at her, and then Louise, for the first time, properly examined his face.

His green eyes were the most remarkable thing about his face, they weren't bright, and they had a dark tint to them, and looked like they belonged to someone older. His face had a tired look to it, and seemed to be very worn out, no matter how much he ate and slept, he still looked tired nearly all the time, and looked much older, she didn't even know how old he really was, he had never told her.

"Yes, I would like to know, how were you able to do that? Only dragon riders are capable of controlling a dragon, but none I've heard of were capable of what you just did." Hiato let out a chuckle "Dragon riders huh, well I guess that means this world really is different." Louise had a confused look on her face. "What do you-" Hiato raised a hand to cut her off. "I know how to do that because my parents taught me when I was a kid, and also because, you know I just happen to be-" before he could continue, there was a knock on the door, and Hiato stood up. "I'll get it." He walked over and opened the door, and was surprised to see Professor Colbert, who promptly walked in.

"Professor Colbert?" Louise and Hiato asked at the same time. "Why are you here?" They chanted in unison, and the Professor laughed. "My my, it sounds like your bond is getting stronger." Hiato glanced at Louise, and when he saw she wasn't looking, made a "pretend to throw up" face. "The headmaster wants to see both of you, for a matter of great importance." Louise swallowed, and Hiato was nervous. _Was it because of what I did?_ He walked across the room to pick up Derf, the talking sword still fast asleep. "Well then, let's go." He said

They were in the headmaster's office, and strangely enough Kirche and Tabitha had decided to tag along. Louise was fuming, because Kirche was clinging onto Hiato, who looked rather displeased with the situation. "Now that you're all here, let us begin." Old Osmond said. "Tell me, mister familiar, how is it that you possess such a great skill for flying a dragon?" All eyes in the room were on Hiato now, who scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Well it's because my parents taught me." He said, looking at the old man. He was rather surprised by this. "Your _parents_?" He asked. Hiato just gave a quick nod. "How?" Osmond asked, and at this moment Hiato got nervous.

If he told him the truth, he would then let about 6 people know what he really was, so instead he decided to lie. "My parents had a pet dragon; I used to ride him all the time." He lied. Osmond's eyes narrowed at this, he could tell Hiato was lying, but he could also tell from looking at Hiato it was a subject he didn't like to discuss often, so Osmond just left it. "Ok then, I suppose that makes sense." He said, and Colbert gave him a look, which heavily implied the Professor thought the old man was finally losing it. He just glared back, and Colbert said nothing.

The headmaster then moved on to the matter of Fouquet the crumbling dirt. "We received an order from the palace ordering for her arrest, and unfortunately I cannot send out any teachers to deal with the matter." Hiato looked down, and he saw a little mouse. It appeared to be creeping towards Louise, and he figured out what it was doing. It glanced up at him, and he shot it a look saying _take one step further and you die._ The Mouse froze in fear, and suddenly bolted back to Osmond's desk. "- if you're willing to accept this dangerous task." Osmond finished.

Hiato looked up, he had missed a good bit of the conversation, and had no idea what the old man was talking about. "I accept." His pink haired master said, standing upright. "I'll go along with it, can't let Louise get all the glory." Tabitha just looked up from her book and nodded. "It's settled then; the 3 of you will track down Fouquet and capture her, but will be accompanied by Miss Longueville." Hiato's mouth fell open. Was this man trying to get his students killed? From what little he heard, this 'Fouquet' is apparently a triangle class mage, and he knew that meant she was powerful, but here the headmaster was casually sending 3 girls who probably weren't even as half as strong to _capture her?!_

Hiato then let out a sigh; he guessed trying to argue would be pointless, but he still really didn't like this idea, even though he was one who had lots of bad ideas very often and usually went through with them anyway. Outside they met Miss Longueville who took them to a wagon, which promptly left for the forest. Hiato hated every second of the journey, as Kirche kept trying to flirt with him.

"Oh darling, why must you be so rude? I'm just expressing my feelings." She said for the 12th time on the trip. Hiato was certain that if they didn't get to where they needed to be, he would likely stand up and kick Kirche off the wagon. He could tell his master was getting furious at Kirche, but at least was holding it in because Hiato was resisting. Miss Longueville was a fairly young lady with long green hair; she always wore glasses, and was, in general, quite a nice person. Hiato chatted with her a little on the journey, but not much considering how Kirche was trying to become part of his arm. All the while Derf was just chuckling to himself, which annoyed Hiato even more. And Tabitha was just ignoring everything going on, and Hiato looked up to see Sylphid giving Kirche an unseen look of hostility.

Kirche pressed herself against him again, and a vein appeared on Louise's forehead. "Stop doing that to my familiar!" she roared at her arch rival. Kirche let out a sly grin. "Oh I'm sure your familiar enjoys it, right darling?" She looked up at Hiato, only to be greeted with a look that heavily implied he was planning to disembowel her if she didn't let go in the next 5 seconds. A sweatdrop formed on the back of her head. "O-oh okay dear." She let go of Hiato and leaned away, and Hiato promptly let out a sigh of relief.

"Were here." Longueville said. Hiato jumped off the wagon so fast, it was like he teleported. "You could have done me a favour and told me we were close, I wouldn't have minded running the last bit." He said, throwing a glance at Kirche. Louise smirked, but had her back to Kirche, she was happy her familiar wasn't a dog who would enjoy girls flirting with him and trying to seduce him, and even more happy that he seemed to hate Kirche just like she did.

They walked forwards a little, until a wooden cabin came into sight. "I'll scout the surrounding area to make sure she doesn't try to escape." The rest nodded at this idea, and Longueville made her way into the trees. Hiato drew Derf, and crept towards the house, taking each step as carefully and as quiet as possible. Years of sneaking around had honed Hiato's stealth ability to a level that most master thieves could only envy, and his reaction time was inhuman. He got to the front door, and slowly pushed it open. Louise, Kirche and Tabitha were surrounding the house in a triangle formation, cutting off any escape.

Taking a deep breath, Hiato pushed the door open and held Derf in front of him, looking around quickly. "All clear!" He shouted. He lowered Derf and walked deeper into the cabin. It had very little furniture, and was covered in cobwebs. He was examining the shelf on the other side of the room when he heard a scream. He immediately charged outside and was shocked to see a large, towering golem made of earth. "What the-." He started, before he looked down and saw where the scream had come from. It was Louise, the golem was looming over her, and she was pointing her wand towards the massive moving mound of earth, and she was shaking.

The golem raised its right hand into the air and swung down towards Louise. Without thinking, and at a speed that was inhuman, he bolted through the golems legs, grabbed Louise in the bridal position, and then ran as fast as he and managed to get away just before the golems fist hit the ground. As he slowed down, he looked down at Louise who he was carrying in his arms.

"Hiato..." She said, still shacking slightly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Don't try to fight it, you'll just get killed, and that's the last thing I'm going to let happen." Louise blushed at his words, and was about to get angry when she looked into his eyes and for the first time saw something different.

Concern.

He was worried about her safety, and she knew he was right. He quickly threw her at Kirche, who was caught off guard and nearly dropped the pinkette, and Louise got annoyed. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" She yelled, in annoyance and fear.

"Making sure you're not in the line of fire." Hiato replied. "Don't worry, I'll handle this." Hiato charged at the first golem, which swung it's first at him. Hiato dodged easily, using the speed gained from his familiar runes. He slashed down, severing the hand, and jumped back. The golem didn't recoil from the attack, and simply grabbed his hand and slammed it back on. _Dammit, that's going to be a real problem if it can just pull itself back together. _

Hiato gritted his teeth and ran forward, the golem swung its fist towards him, and he dodged, cutting off its hand again, but this time landing on the arm and running up towards the head. There he carved chunks off of the golems head, which responded by trying to punch him off. He dodged the blow but then another fist came hurtling towards him and he was barely able to block it. That's when he noticed there was more than one. He flew through the air and landed on his feet, the first golem crumbled into earth, and Hiato smiled.

One down.

But his victory was short lived as another 3 golems had appeared, surrounding him. Louise, Kirche and Tabitha were all watching apprehensively, and Louise was on the verge of screaming out to Hiato to run away. Hiato was breathing heavily, taking the first one down had been tough, he still hadn't recovered from yesterday. Suddenly all three golems swung towards him at the same time, Hiato was barely able to dodge, and landing on a hand started to run up a golems arm, but then saw a fist flying towards him. He stopped and bought Derf up, but was holding it in his right hand, and as the fist collided, he felt a sharp pain in his right hand, and Derf was knocked away, along with him, but in a different direction.

He flew through the air and landed hard on the ground. He looked at his right wrist, it was broken, along with his hand, and he was struggling to avoid yelling out in pain. He held his hand close to his chest, it was bleeding too. Derf landed close to the trio, and at that moment Louise snapped.

"Hiato run away! Now quickly before the golems kill you!"

Hiato let out a weary smile. He knew he couldn't run, and suddenly he heard a voice, a voice he recognized, and then a women with green hair appeared on one of the golem's shoulders. "Blazing infernos that reduces all to ash, fires that consume all, create for me, an inferno to burn this man's soul from his bones!" Everyone's eyes went wide, it was Miss Longueville, and suddenly realization struck Louise, Tabitha, and Kirche. She was casting fire storm, the most powerful triangle class fire spell, and Louise's eyes went wide when she realised who the target was. Before she could say anything, before she could do anything, Hiato disappeared, enveloped in a huge column of fire.

"Partner!" Derf yelled out, Kirche and Tabitha were just in shock, and Sylphid let out a roar. Longueville had a wicked smile on her face.

Louise couldn't handle it, she felt the tears well up in her eyes, and she started crying, crying the hardest she had ever cried in her life.

"Sorry about my golem nearly killing you, Louise, it was a mistake on my part, not having enough control. I could have nearly failed my mission, but thankfully your familiar saved you." She then looked over at the column of fire.

"H-how could you!?" Kirche stammered out. "y-you're a member of the staff at the academy!" At this Longueville laughed. "Oh yes, I am, but I am also Fouquet, the very person you were sent to find. You all made my mission so easy, first off, don't kill the pink haired girl." She looked at Louise, who was still crying. "Secondly, deal with that troublesome familiar of yours, or rather, Gandalfr." Her smile faded a little. "I had been ordered to use a fire spell to kill him, and frankly fire isn't my natural element so it took a while for me to learn it. And to be honest, I don't like killing people. But orders are orders."

Kirche and Tabitha were sent into more shock. _Ordered to kill Hiato!?_ They looked at Fouquet. "And now capturing her will be so much easier, but there's one problem, I don't have any orders regarding you 2, so I guess I'll just have to kill you 2 as well. Don't take it personally, it's just I can't leave any witnesses." She smiled, and the golems began their advance forward.

Louise was crying harder now. Hiato had died, her familiar had _died _and she had failed to protect it. Now she was going to be taken captive, and founder knows what done to her. But even if she did escape, she'd be known as the mage who let her familiar die, she would be expelled from the academy, then her mother would marry her off to some rich noble and she would never have free will again.

But worst of all she will never see Hiato again. That was the worst part. Her familiar, who she had first thought to be the worst familiar she could have ever summoned, was in fact, she was sure of this, to be the exact opposite. But that didn't matter, he was dead, burned to ashes, and there was nothing she could do.

She then lifted her head up, looked to the sky, and let out a scream of one word, a scream of pain, anguish, and loss. One which even sent a shiver down Fouquet's spine, and even made her golem stop advancing.

"HIATO!"

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**And that's chapter 6! Hope you all enjoyed, and like the cliff hanger (mwahahaha). Anyway, thanks for reading, and as always, I will see YOU, in the next chapter. Bye bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello there and welcome to chapter 7! Thanks again to all those who have reviewed and read this, it means a lot. I had hoped to get this chapter up sooner, but my internet decided to not work for a few days, which really sucked. I'm really sorry about that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own familiar of zero.**

* * *

Louise's whole body was shaking. She was crying even harder now. The scream she had let out had stopped Fouquet's advance, but Louise didn't notice. To her, the world was falling apart. Her familiar had died, and she had been powerless to save it. It just meant that, even after succeeding at summoning a familiar, she was still a zero, and incapable of doing anything. She lowered her head and wiped away the tears, and then looked at Fouquet, who seemed to be frozen to the spot. Louise didn't care why, because as she looked at Fouquet, her feelings turned from sorrow to anger. It was like she was a volcano on the verge of eruption. She started to shake from the pure rage building up inside her. Fouquet was the one who had killed her familiar, and Louise was determined to exact revenge upon her.

Louise stood up, her body shaking more now. Kirche and Tabitha, who had been rooted to the spot in shock, snapped out of it when Louise stood up. "Louise what are you doing?" Kirche asked. Louise didn't hear her; she didn't need to hear her. All that mattered now was Fouquet. Fouquet also seemed to snap out of it, and her golem started to move. Louise looked at the large earthen construct, and without thinking lifted her arm, pointed it at the golem and yelled "EXPLOSION!"

Everyone was surprised by this, but Fouquet had the least amount of time to be surprised, as the golem which shoulder's she was standing on was suddenly obliterated, and the shockwave sent her flying through the air. Bits of rock went flying everywhere, and Sylphid came over to shield Kirche and Tabitha with her wings. Louise ignored the bits of falling rock, had she not been in a blinding rage, she would have been amazed at what had just happened. Instead, she was scanning for Fouquet, and quickly found her. Pointing her wand, Louise yelled out. "EXPLOSION!" again, but this time Fouquet was hit with a much smaller blast, which just sent her into the ground quicker. Fouquet managed to slow herself down before she landed, It was just enough to ensure that she wouldn't break a bone, but it still hurt.

She quickly ordered her remaining golems to gather around her, and she looked at Louise. The pinkette was breathing heavily, but still had a look of rage on her face. "EXPLOSION!" she yelled out again, but this time, nothing happened, and instead, she staggered backwards before falling over. Kirche dashed forward and managed to grab her before she hit the ground. Fouquet quickly made her way onto the shoulder of the closest golem, and decided to quickly summon another one. That made 3.

Louise was exhausted; she was breathing heavily, and could barely lift her arms. She managed to look up at Fouquet, who had an amused smile on her face. "Shame you didn't use that spell on me first instead of my golem, it would be over if you did." She let out a small laugh. "I really am sorry I had to kill your familiar, he seemed like such a nice boy, but orders are orders, now then, if you agree to surrender, I will not kill your friends." Louise tried to snarl, but was too tired.

"She won't give up! We won't let her!" Kirche shouted. Tabitha nodded, and both the girls got their wands ready. Fouquet just laughed. "Well then, if you want to join the familiar of zero, so be it." The golems started to advance, and Kirche and Tabitha prepared for a fight.

A fight Louise knew they could not win.

She had accepted her fate, she would be captured by Fouquet, and there was nothing she could do. Tabitha and Kirche could hold out for a little bit, but eventually Fouquet would best them, and Louise would be taken hostage. Her life was over in her mind, and she had resigned herself to that fate. She knew whoever Fouquet worked for would never let her go.

She looked over to the place where her familiar had been incinerated. The fires were still burning. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and started to cry again, her head held in her hands. Fouquet smirked. "Don't worry, I really didn't want to do it, but as an act of kindness, I'll let you keep the ashes."

Louise didn't hear Fouquet's insult, instead she was replaying all the time she had spent with her familiar in her mind, and now regretted the way she had treated him. She had summoned him from a world where he had spent nearly half his life just trying to survive, and then tried to turn him into her servant and treat him like dirt, unaware of what he had been through. It didn't matter that he was her familiar, it didn't matter he was bound to obey her, he had been through hell, and even though Louise had been teased since she got to the academy about being a zero, it was nothing compared to what Hiato had been through, and she hadn't cared one bit for the suffering her familiar had gone through and instead made it worse.

The golems were getting closer; Louise could feel each step they took shake the ground. Louise looked at the fire once last time; she just wanted to see him one last time, just to see him, hold him in her arms and say she's sorry, and to treat him like a human being for once, not a servant. But she knew that would never happen.

What she didn't know was that Fouquet's firestorm was getting smaller.

And then she saw something that made her heart skip a beat.

There was a figure _standing _in the fire. Louise's eyes went wide, and she stopped crying. She didn't dare to hope, it could be a trick on Fouquet's part, some kind of last insult to Louise.

But that wasn't likely, and at that moment Louise noticed the size of the firestorm.

When it had been cast, it had towered over Fouquet's golems as a giant column of fire, now it was shorter than her golems, and getting smaller each second.

That was when she felt it.

It was a feeling of realization, of power once sealed away being unlocked, and that power was incredible. And there was a feeling of warmth as well, protective, soothing warmth. Louise looked at the figure again, and at that moment there was a break in the storm, revealing the figure, and Louise screamed out in joy.

"HIATO!"

"Last time I checked, that was my name." Hiato responded, with a smirk on his face. "Oh boy, this feels great!" Fouquet spun around, Tabitha and Kirche looked over, and they all got looks of pure shock on their faces. "I-impossible..." Fouquet stammered out, and Tabitha and Kirche were wide eyed. "Y-you should be dead!" Hiato leaned his head back and laughed. "Silly Longueville, or should I say Fouquet, didn't you know..." Hiato stopped laughing, and then looked at Fouquet, still with a smirk on his face. "...it's impossible to kill a dragon with fire?"

At that moment his arms became wreathed in fire up to the elbows, and as the fire cleared, it revealed his arms had changed. They were now slightly bigger, and covered in red scales with golden spikes sticking out the top just behind the wrist and running parallel with his arms up to just before his elbow. Each of his fingers became razor sharp claws, and then 2 wings sprouted out of his back. His clothes were still intact.

Louise couldn't believe her eyes. Her familiar was a _Dragon!?_ What kind, she was unsure, but she knew he wasn't an ordinary dragon, because he had transformed parts of his body to those of a dragon, but was still human.

Fouquet however panicked. She hadn't expected her spell to fail in killing Hiato, so she ordered her golems to stop advancing on Kirche and Tabitha and to deal with Hiato instead. At that moment the firestorm completely disappeared, and Hiato was still smirking. "I don't know how you survived my firestorm, but there's no way you can defeat my golems!" The golems practically sprinted towards Hiato.

"Kirche, Tabitha, take care of Louise and don't get involved, I'll handle this." Louise snapped out of shock and yelled. "You idiot, let us help, you can't take on 3 earth golems at once! It's a really bad idea!" Hiato just flashed her a cheeky grin. "Stick around; I'm full of bad ideas." Louise got really worried, and tried to get up when she just fell over, but was caught by Kirche. "Louise your too tired, don't try to move." Louise shot her a look of venom. "My familiar is going to fight and I'm going to help him!" Tabitha put a hand on Louise shoulder, and in a very rare moment said. "Don't worry, he will be fine." This shocked Louise AND Kirche. It was the first time they had heard the near mute say a full sentence. Louise looked at Hiato, and hoped he would be ok.

The first golem reached Hiato and swung its left fist towards him. Hiato countered by throwing a punch with his left arm. When the 2 fists collided, for a fraction of a second, nothing happened. Then the golem's fist shattered and most of its arm up to its elbow.

(CUE EPIC MUSIC)

As the golem reared back from the force of the punch, Hiato braced himself, and then with a flap of his wings, flung himself towards the golem's head. He held his right hand out and made a fist, and punched straight through, obliterating the golems head. As he slowed down, he made a fireball in his right hand, and swinging around, hurled it at the golem. Upon impact the golem was completely destroyed.

Fouquet, Louise, Kirche and even Tabitha were amazed at what they had just seen, but Fouquet snapped out of it pretty quickly, and ordered her other golem to attack Hiato. It lumbered forwards and swung a punch with its right arm at Hiato, who dodged the blow with little effort, and conjuring another ball of fire in his hand, pressed it into the golem's fist, and then flew back quickly.

The golem's fist exploded, and Hiato landed on the ground. The golem tried to crush him with its left arm by trying to smack down with its palm onto Hiato, but the blow was dodged, and Hiato gathered fire around his right arm. He then spread out his wings, and leaped forwards, dodging past the golems arm, and stopped right below it.

"Dragon..." He pulled his right arm down, preparing to punch straight upwards. Spreading his wings and bracing his legs, he looked up, jumped, flapped his wings and yelled. "..FIST!"

As Hiato was yelling, he shot straight upwards through the golem, surrounded in fire, obliterating its entire upper body. As he got into the air he slowed down, opened his hand, gathered all the fire into a ball, and hurled it straight downwards, obliterating the golem. All the while, he had been relaxed, almost not taking the fight seriously, and he still had a smirk on his face. He turned to look at Fouquet, who seemed to be quiet scared of Hiato, and before she could run or order her golem to attack, Hiato generated 2 balls of fire and hurled them at the golem, obliterating it but not harming Fouquet.

She was thrown into the air, and Hiato flew straight towards her. Before she could react he grabbed her wand and snapped it in half. He then grabbed her by the collar and lowered her to the ground. As he landed he threw her forwards, and she landed on her stomach. She looked up at him with a mixture of fear and anger. "W-what are you?" she asked. Hiato chuckled. "Me? I'm just an ordinary familiar, that's all." He then looked at Tabitha. "Tie her up." Tabitha nodded and casted a spell to bind Fouquet's hands together. Hiato then looked at Louise.

Louise was just looking at Hiato, still amazed at the fact he was alive, and the fact of what he was. His appearance had changed, most notable his face had lost the old tired look it always had, and now seemed to be full of life, and looked a lot younger. His eyes had lost their dark tint, and were a much lighter and brighter green now and seemed to have a faint glow. His brown hair was also different; it had gained a slight red tint. But that didn't matter, because that was when Louise got up and ran straight at Hiato. "Hiato!" she yelled, before throwing her arms around him and nearly knocking him over. Hiato looked down at his pink haired master, who was crying into his chest and letting out muffled words.

"I-it's you... it's really you... your alive..." Louise said between sobs. "you... idiot... why didn't you run when I told you too..." Hiato had a surprised look on his face, but then it softened to a smile. He then put his right arm around Louise's back and pulled her closer, surprising Louise, and rubbed the back of her head with his left hand. Normally Louise would have pulled out the hug by now, but for some reason, she actually liked it. She felt safe, secure and warm in her familiar's arms.

"Because I couldn't have run, firstly because i couldn't have abandoned you; I would never be able to live with myself if I had. I could never abandon you. And secondly, my wrist was broken, so I wouldn't have been able to get up in time." Louise gasped, and then looked up at Hiato, who had a warm smile on his face. "Stop crying, it doesn't suite you, and you ruin your pretty little face when you cry." Louise went bright red at this, and then pressed her face into his chest. Hiato let out a laugh and rubbed the back of her head.

"I have to say, this is quite surprising. I honestly never thought I would see you cry, well not in sadness over me." Louise quickly looked up at Hiato. "I heard and saw all of it." Louise's eyes went wide, and she swallowed. Hiato just smiled at her. "I'm sorry. I was worried about telling you the truth of what I am, and because I was selfish and decided not to trust you, I made you cry, and I am truly sorry for that, Louise."

Louise opened her mouth to say something, but then she looked at Hiato's face. He was truly sorry, she could see it in his eyes, and then she felt her heart skip a beat and jump into her throat. She couldn't say anything, and was looking into his eyes. She tried to speak but no words came out her mouth, and she had a strange feeling. Her stomach felt like something was flying around in it, and her heart seemed to be extremely loud all of a sudden. Without thinking she started to lean closer to Hiato.

Suddenly Louise was snapped out of it when Kirche barged into Hiato and grabbed hold of his arm and pressed herself against him. "Oh darling, you're a dragon? Why my, we may be even more of a perfect match than I thought before." Louise got angry again. "Zerbst, what do you think you're doing!?" Kirche just looked at her with the look you would give to someone who you just explained something to and they asked you to explain the same thing again.

"Why, I'm talking to my sweetheart, the man who only has room for me in his life, right?" She turned to try to look longingly into Hiato's eyes, expecting a look of love from him, but instead got a look that implied he would set her on fire if she didn't let go. Louise was about to shout again when suddenly her legs felt extremely weak, and she fell over.

Breaking free of Kirche, Hiato managed to catch Louise before she hit the ground. Kirche got a worried look on her face and rushed to Louise. "Is she ok?" She asked in a panicked voice. Hiato just put his right hand on her forehead, and smiled. "She's passed out from exhaustion, she should be fine with rest, I'll take her back to the academy." Hiato picked her up in bridal position, and then spread his wings. Kirche quickly objected to this.

"No darling, she can go back with Tabitha, and you can fly me back inst-"Before she could finish, Hiato took off, and as he got into the air he shouted back. "Sorry, but I'd rather fly Fouquet back than you." Before Kirche, who had a very shocked look on her face, could respond, Hiato flapped his wings and set off for the academy.

* * *

She could feel cool wind blowing against her face, and two arms holding her, and the sound of flapping of wings. She stirred, slowly opening her eyes. She was looking up at a clear blue sky. She lowered her head to look at who was carrying her, and as she saw who it was she smiled.

Hiato was also smiling, but for a different reason.

He was enjoying the feeling of flying, something he had only ever experienced when his parents had flown him around or when he had ridden Sylphid the one time, but flying with his own 2 wings was a feeling he could not describe.

He was unaware of Louise looking at him. To Louise, Hiato now looked like a completely different person. He seemed younger, more playful, more carefree and happier. It was like the fire had somehow changed his personality and his appearance. His face was one of joy, and while he did look more boyish rather than like an adult, he also seemed to be more handsome.

Louise blushed when she thought this and quickly covered her face. Hiato finally noticed she was awake and smiled. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Louise blushed even more at this, looked way and said. "Shut up." Hiato laughed. Louise looked at him out the corner of her eye. He had been teasing when he had said that, but it was different from before. He wasn't mocking her; he was just being playful now.

"Hey come on, don't be mad." Hiato said. Louise turned to look at him, and she was about to say something when she realised how exhausted she felt. She yawned and relaxed in Hiato's arms. "Hiato, how much longer until we get back?" Hiato looked at her with a sideways look. "About 10 minutes at our current pace, but we can get there faster." Louise turned to look out in front of them. The academy was on the other side of the field they were flying over.

"How long have you been flying for?" She asked.

"About 20 minutes." Hiato responded. Louise nodded and started to drift off. "Wake me up when we get there..." She said, just before falling asleep. Hiato smiled, he was impressed with what his master had done. He looked at the pink girl he was holding in his arms. _She's not a zero, if she was, then she would never have been able to destroy that golem, let alone summon me._ Hiato then looked at the academy that was drawing closer, and smiled. He was happy, something he hadn't been in a long time, and he was feeling that way for many reasons.

Firstly his dragon powers were no unlocked, meaning he was now a true dragonoid. Secondly, he had realised how Louise really felt about him after seeing all that she did, and thirdly... that was something he couldn't describe. It was a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time, and it was hard for him to remember when he had last had this feeling. He shook his head; he would sort it out later.

He landed in the courtyard outside the tower, and as he landed he heard gasps and whispers from the other students in the courtyard, and felt many eyes upon him. He looked up to see old Osmond looking at him from out his office window. Hiato smiled at him, which seemed to surprise the headmaster. Ignoring the whispers around him, Hiato walked into the tower, folded his wings into his back, and changed his arms back to normal. He climbed the stairs, thinking over what the third thing was.

He eventually reached Louise's- no _their_ room and opened the door. He walked inside and closed the door gently. He then walked across the room and laid Louise on her bed, and then pulled the covers up over her. Looking down at her, he brushed her hair out of her face and smiled. He then looked at the window, the sun was only beginning to set, but Hiato decided he would call in early for the day. He turned around and walked to his hay bed, lying down on it as he reached it.

As he lay down and closed his eyes, he finally realised what it was he was feeling. It was something he had last felt over 7 years ago, just before his parents had died. It was something he had never imagined he would have felt about this academy, but now he knew better.

He had finally found a place that he would never have to run from, people who accepted him for what he was, friends who cared about him, people to take care of him and a place where he can actually fit in. It was something he had been searching for ever since that day; the day he had gone on the run, but that was over now. No more running, no more hiding, no more worrying and no more fear. He knew that some people in this world wanted him dead, but he also knew that there were people who would protect him and keep him safe.

Hiato then thought about Louise, despite all her arrogance and pride, she truly cares for him, and he owes her his life, for she saved him from death or imprisonment, and he would work hard to repay that debt. The old him, the one that was cynical and distrusting, was gone now. Hiato knew that Louise cared for him, and he cared for her. He would risk his life to defend her, without hesitation. He would protect her from whoever wanted to take her captive.

He smiled, he had found it. After all this time, all the running and hiding, after everything he had been through, he finally had one, he had found one, and as he drifted off to sleep, the word which he thought he would never be able to call any place ever again, echoed in his mind.

_Home._

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Sorry it's shorter than the last one, but I feel like where I've ended it is a good place. I Hope you all enjoyed learning what Hiato really is, but wait, there's more! (which I'll explain in later chapters te hehe) Anyway, thanks for reading, sorry again for the late upload, my internet was being an arse, and I will see you again in the next chapter! (which will be a lot longer, I promise)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello and welcome to chapter 8! Thanks again to all those who had read and reviewed, and I'm glad your all enjoying it. I've decided I'm going to have a bit more of a comedic writing style in some parts, and I hope you all enjoy it. So with all that said, here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own familiar of zero**

* * *

_Fire. All she could see was fire. It surrounded her on all sides, and was getting closer. She was looking around, panicking, trying to find a way out from the flames. The fire crept closer, swallowing the ground up as it approached. Louise then realised, there was no way she could escape, and she was going to die. At that moment, a figure appeared in the fire, walking towards her. At first she didn't recognize him, and wondered how anyone could walk through the flames and still be alive, the heat from them was almost unbearable, but then she saw his face, and she started to walk towards him. As she reached him, he wrapped his arms around her, and suddenly the heat from the flames was gone, and she closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around him._

"_Hiato..." she whispered. Her familiar smiled; using his wings he shielded her from the flames. "Louise..." he responded. Louise was happy now; her familiar was here to protect her. The flames couldn't hurt her; nothing could as long as she was wrapped in his arms. She then looked up at him; her heart was beating faster now. "Hiato... I... I..." He smiled at her, as if he knew what she was about to say, and without thinking Louise started to lean towards him, and closed her eyes..._

* * *

Louise's eyes opened slowly, her whole body feeling slightly exhausted. Her vision was blurry, and she blinked a few times to clear her vision. She sat up and looked around. She was in her room, and when she looked to where Hiato slept, she saw he was gone.

At that moment her dream and her memories of what had happened after they had managed to capture Fouquet came rushing back to her, and she went a bright red, and her heart started to beat faster. She shook her head very quickly, trying to clear her mind. How she had hugged him... what he had said... how he had hugged her back... the look she had given him...how she had nearly... nearly...

She somehow got even redder when she thought about that, and shook her head again. _I-I can't feel that way about him! He's just a... a familiar... _Louise stopped shaking her head at that thought, and thought about everything he had told her. He wasn't just a familiar, nor was he just a person. He was something amazing, something probably never seen before, someone who had lived perhaps the worst life imaginable, and she still wanted to think of him as _just _a familiar? She cursed herself for thinking like that, and decided it was time to stop treating Hiato like a slave, and instead like a person. After all, she was starting to fall in...

Louise went even redder (somehow) when she realised what she had just been about to think. But as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew it was true. He had saved her, and even more than that, he had stayed her familiar, despite being able to run away at any given moment. She then smiled. She knew he felt the same way too, she had sensed it when he had embraced her, but at the time she hadn't noticed.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a voice. "Hey princess, good to see your awake, partner's gonna be happy about that." Louise turned her head to the right slightly, to see the talking sword Derf leaning against the wall next to Hiato's hay bed... something she suddenly felt bad about making him sleep on.

"Oh, you're here. Where is he right now?" Louise asked the talking sword.

"Outside, last time I checked. He said "she's going to be awake soon, and probably going to want to eat a horse" so he left for the kitchen, he must be bringing a large amount of food for you missy, you're lucky you've found such a nice guy." At that, Louise went red (again) and glared at the sword.

"What are you talking about?" Louise asked in a steely tone.

"The fact you love him, duh." The talking sword responded. At that, steam exploded out of her ears.

"I do not love him!" She yelled at the sword, who just laughed. "Course ya don't, if you did then you never would never had hugged him like ya did after he caught Fouquet, or even cried like ya did, or even tried to kiss him like ya did!" Each of these facts made Louise turn a brighter shade of red, and get angrier, and then she yelled at the sword.

"I was merely worried about him! It is natural for a master to be concerned about her familiar!" the sword just laughed in response. "Believe what you want missy, I know what I saw." The sword kept laughing, and Louise growled at it. She looked over at her window, which was open, and then got up. She might as well get changed, but as she got to her cupboard, a shadow was cast across the room from the direction of the window, and Louise looked to see what it was, and her heart jumped when she saw who it was.

"Good morning, you're up earlier than I expected." Hiato said playfully. The shadow was coming from his wings, which he had obviously used to fly up to the window. What did you think he climbed and had his wings out for fun? He was holding a box in his hands, and he flew into the window. As he landed he folded his wings in, and walked to the table, setting the box down and turned to Louise. "Feeling better?"

Louise nodded, and then looked at the box. "What's in there?" She asked

"Food." Hiato responded simply, looking at the box. "I figured you'd want something to eat once you woke up." At that moment there was a loud growl that could be heard all over the room... and it was coming from Louise's stomach. Louise went bright red, and Hiato chuckled, then without any provocation, walked forward and gave Louise a hug.

At first the pinkette was surprised, and blushed even more, and her heart started to beat faster. "It's good to see you're alright, I was worried about you, but I knew you'd wake up eventually." Louise got a lump in her throat, and hugged her familiar back, holding him tightly.

"C-can you promise me something Hiato?" Louise asked. Hiato was a little surprised at the use of his name, and blushed a little, but smiled. "Sure, what is it?"

"Can you promise me, never to do something like that again?" She lifted her head from his chest and looked at him, and he had an amused smiled on his face. "Sure, as long as you can promise we will stay out of danger." He said teasingly, and Louise just hit him on the arm. "Ow, that hurt." Hiato said, stating the obvious. Louise just giggled, which immediately made Hiato lean backwards and give her a worried look. _Ok now she giggling, this can't be good. _Louise looked up at his expression, and let out a small laugh. "What's with that look?" she asked.

"You're giggling, I've never heard you giggle, and frankly it's kind of scary." Louise just narrowed her eyes at him, and punched him again, this time on the chest. "What am I a punching bag now?" Hiato asked mockingly. Louise just shrugged and broke out of the hug, walking to the cupboard, and started to get changed. Hiato turned around, as usual.

"How long was I asleep?" Louise asked, as she pulled her shirt on.

"About a month." Hiato answered, and turned to look at his master. Despite mustering every ounce of willpower he had, he collapsed onto the floor in gales of laughter. Louse's expression had been the one someone would have if you had just told them offhandedly that you had run their dog over and were going to pay for a new one, but it changed to one of annoyance once Hiato hit the floor, and started to laugh like he had just heard the greatest joke in the world. "S-stop laughing!" she demanded at once, and glared at her familiar.

After Hiato calmed down, and managed to get up, he looked at Louise. "To answer your question properly, you were out for a day, and before you have a panic attack, you were excused from class, and apparently didn't miss much anyway. Fouquet was brought back to the academy, sacked, and sent to the palace for trial. Tabitha and Kirche came in to check how you were doing, and brought Derf back too, sorry about forgetting you partner." The sword just chuckled. "It's fine partner, you had little missy to worry about." Louise calmed down slightly, and then about a million and one questions exploded into her mind, all about what Hiato really was.

"What are you? How did you do any of that? How did you survive that fire spell? Where do those wings come from?" she asked without thinking. Hiato held his hands up. "Slow down, slow down, slow down, yeesh you can fire questions off faster than I can eat a meal. Speaking of which, I'll tell you after breakfast." Louise nodded, but then was about to ask something else when she was cut off. "Classes don't start for another hour, so don't worry."

They sat down and ate their food, and by ate I mean Louise stared gawk eyed at how Hiato ate nearly half the food in the box in about 5 seconds, and then started eating before he ate everything and started to chew on the box. Hiato finished his breakfast in about 20 seconds, but Louise took a little longer, and they were done, Hiato cleared his throat.

"So you want to know what I am, how I did what I did in that fight, how I survived the fire, where my wings come from, and probably another billion questions." Louise frowned at her familiar, but nodded in curiosity. "Well I'll start from the beginning, and I'm going to be blunt about this, so prepare yourself." He looked at Louise with a serious expression, and she nodded, giving him all her attention.

"For starter's I'm not a human. To be more specific, I am an animas, a human who possess the ability to transform either parts of or their whole body into one of an animal. Back in my world, there were 2 kinds of humans, the normal ones like you, and the animas like me, who are more sort of in-between humans and animals. The amount of Animas is large, but small compared to the normal human population, about 1 in every 1000 is an animas. Animas and humans, for the most part, get along well. Animas possess certain abilities depending on what animal they are, and different forms. Among each animas type, there are different variations, but baseline they are all the same kind. Every animal that exists in my world there was an animas for it. There are 3 main kinds of animas, Pureblood, mixed blood, or Human born." Louise had a confused look on her face.

"Pureblood Animas are ones who have 2 animas parents, and their whole family bloodline has only been animas of its own kind. There aren't many left, but that's only because the species that have pureblood lines left are ones that usually only mate with their own kind. Mixed bloods are animas that either have 1 animas parent and 1 human parent, or at some point in their family's history had an ancestor who mated with a human, and they are a descendant. Despite what you may think, animas are not treated differently for what their blood line is by other animas, animas are treated for who they are, whether you are pureblood or mixed blood, it doesn't matter, you are treated how you treat others. Human born animas, or bastard animas, are animas born from 2 human parents, usually with no Animas blood in their family. Such animas are extremely rare, and the last time one was born was about 200 years ago. But still, they are not mocked for this, except by some humans, and are often welcomed into Animas communities with open arms, as they usually have no idea what they are or how to control it. The difference between the different kinds of animas in this regard is small at best, the only thing it really affects is how soon an animas gains their powers."

Louise simply nodded; this was a lot for her to take in. "What about you? What are you?" she asked.

"I am a pureblood dragonoid and the last of my kind in Eurthina. I guess I'll tell you about dragonoids, and my parents." Hiato took a deep breath. "Dragonoids are the rarest animas, the biggest our population ever got was about 10000, and now I'm the last one alive. Dragonoids possess control over fire, and are completely immune to it, and are capable of absorbing it through our skins to bolster out powers. The more we absorb, the more powerful we get, but on the flip side, the more powerful fire attacks we use, the quicker we drain our reserve of fire power. All dragonoids have a limit to how much they can absorb, and when that limit is reached, we simply stop absorbing. However no one had ever reached that point before. All dragonoids go through a ceremony called "The awakening" when they reach their 12 hatch day, or birthday in your terms. On this day, the parents will breathe fire onto their child, engulfing them and unlocking their dragon powers. This only happens when both parents are dragonoids, if only one is a dragonoid, they simply do it in secret. I never went through this ritual, so my powers were never unlocked, it's because my parents died before I turned 12." Hiato took another deep breath. "My mother was Weriece, and my father was Draidos, and what I'm going to say next will shock you."

Louise braced herself. "My father was 573 when I was born, and my mother was 549." Louise's jaw hit the floor. "573!? 549?!" she said, gawking. "Yes, dragonoids can live for thousands of years, and usually only mate over the age of 500." Hiato responded. "When dragonoids reach the age of 50, they make the most important choice of their lives, whether they accept their long life or reject it. We have a special organ inside us, our heart of hearts, which has a special magic that extends our life spans. When we turn 50 it is when we decide if we want our heart to activate, it remains dormant until you turn 50. If we chose to activate it, we gain a life span of thousands of years, if we chose not to, it just fades away. We don't know where it comes from; some say it was a gift from Draggosh, the Dragon emperor." Seeing Louise's face, Hiato sighed. "I should just write a book about all of this and make you read it, since you're gonna ask me everything. Draggosh was supposedly one of the first dragons, and he had immortality, yet despite that he disappeared. He was also a blue scaled dragon, the most powerful kind of dragon, and apparently he granted the gift to the earliest Dragonoids. Legends say that Draggosh disappeared after he had a child, because his physical body was destroyed somehow, and that his spirit lies dormant in his descendants and is passed from generation to generation, and in his 1000th son his soul will awaken. So that's how that supposedly came about, but I doubt it, because if his descendants were real, they would be obvious because they would be blue dragonoids just like he was."

"What about you?" Louise asked. At first Hiato was confused, but then understood what she was asking. "You mean my choice? I decided long ago that if I reached that age, and if I was offered the choice, I would reject it. If you wonder how we know, it's because we are drawn into a dreamlike state on the day it happens, and there we converse with our heart of hearts, which has a small conscious of its own, and it asks us the choice. The conscious dies regardless of our choice and some say that it is a fragment of Draggosh's spirit that lives inside us, and leaves when we make the choice. So is that all you wanted to know?" Hiato asked.

Louise slumped in her chair, absorbing everything she had just been told. Animas... dragonoids... this "dragon god"... blue scale dragons... her mind felt like a hurricane was storming through it. "Oh dear I've fried her brain out, now she won't be able to focus in class." Hiato mused, and Louise looked at him. She was starting at perhaps the most amazing person she could have ever imagined. He was a human, and a _dragon. At the same time. _She found it kind of hard to believe, but one thing made her feel overjoyed.

She really had summoned something no one had seen before, meaning she wasn't a zero after all. She would take time to get her head around everything he had just said, and even longer to sort through it all, she just hoped she didn't forget anything. Hiato stood up. "Well enough about that, we should get to class, shouldn't we, _master?_" He said in his usual playful tone, and Louise stood up, giving him the usual scowl she responded with. "Let's go." She said, turning to walk towards the door, but was stopped.

"Going down stairs is boring; I have another way we can get to class." Before Louise could ask, Hiato picked her up bridal style and walked to the window. "I need to ask you not to scream." He said simply, Louise went slightly red from the fact he was holding her.

"W-why not?" Louise asked, worried what her familiar was doing.

"Because we are going to jump out the window, that's why." Hiato said in an offhanded tone. Louise's eyes went wide. "Are you crazy!?" She asked. Hiato turned his head to look at her. "Slightly yes, why is that a problem?" Louise nodded so hard Hiato was surprised her head didn't fall off. "We are walking down, now put me down!" Louise demanded.

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone see your panties when we are falling, I'm not a pervert you know." Louise went red at this. "We are not doing this." She said

"We are doing this." Hiato responded.

"We are not." Louise responded.

"We are."

"We aren't"

"We are"

"We aren't"

"We are because I just jumped out the window." Hiato said simply. Louise suddenly became aware that they were indeed falling, and rather fast too. She screamed and wrapped her arms around Hiato's neck. "You idiot!" she yelled, and Hiato let out a laugh "Don't worry, you'll be fine." Hiato spread his wings and flapped them, changing their trajectory. Louise stopped clinging to him like she was clinging for dear life, and just collapsed into his arms. They flew a few times around the academy, and the whole time, Hiato had a look of pure joy on his face. Louise smiled; she started to enjoy flying around the academy, and even started to feel a little sleepy. She felt safe in Hiato's arms, like nothing in the world could hurt her. She blushed a little when she thought about it.

Hiato landed by the earth tower, and all the students started whispering as he landed, but Hiato ignored them and put Louise down. He decided he wouldn't attend class and would instead do a bit of flying with Sylphid. After saying goodbye to Louise, he turned around to see the blue dragon behind him.

"So, are you ready?" he asked. The dragon nodded, and Hiato grinned mischievously. "Good, cause I'm not going to make it easy on you." The dragon huffed at him, and Hiato folded out his wings, and then walked up next to her. "5 times around the school?" Sylphid nodded. Hiato got ready to start. "On my mark..." The other dragon braced herself. "Last one to finish is a rotten egg! MARK!"

Hiato immediately took off, and Sylphid grunted and followed him quickly. They were closely tied for all 5 laps, and Hiato just managed to eke out a win. Sylphid was fuming and Hiato just laughed at her. "Not my fault you're so slow." He teased, and the dragon huffed at him, and then knocked him over with her wings. "Ow." Was Hiato reply, and then heard running. He turned his head to see Professor Colbert running towards the earth tower. _Why's he in such a hurry? What is the school on fire or something? _Hiato chuckled, and looked at Sylphid. "Again?" he asked, and the dragon nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile in class, Louise was listening to a very interesting lesson on how to build a house using 1 brick and was _extremely _excited about it, and was _absolutely devastated _When Colbert marched in and announced what he announced.

"All classes for the rest of the day are cancelled." Immediate response was books, papers and pens being thrown into the air as half the class awoke from sheer boredom. The professor teaching the class was not amused, and just huffed and walked back to her office. "The reason for this is the princess is visiting the academy today, and will also be attending the familiar exhibition, so all students are to prepare for her arrival." Louise, after waking up from a boredom induced co- I mean _excitement _induced coma, was surprised. _The princess? I must get ready as quickly as I can for when she arrives._ She went outside and looked around for Hiato, and couldn't find him.

That quickly changed as he plummeted headfirst into the ground about 10 meters in front of her, and the way he hit the ground just made Louise burst out laughing. Hiato got up, with a rather large lump on his head, and a very un-amused look on his face. "Don't laugh, Sylphid cheated and knocked me out the sky." The blue dragon landed and seemed to have a very proud air about it; Hiato just shot it a look of malice, and then turned to face Louise, who was still laughing a little.

"Ugh, I guess that's what I get for jumping out a window with you." Louise stopped laughing, and then her face turned serious. "Hiato come with me, the princess is arriving today and we need to watch her arrival along with the rest of the students." Hiato's face got a look of surprise. "There's a Princess?" he asked stupidly.

Louise just looked at him. "I told you we have a princess you know." Hiato looked dumbfounded. "Really? When?" Louise face palmed, looked like hitting the ground had damaged his memory, and at that moments Hiato's face lit up. "NOW I remember! You did tell me! Ah, how could I have ever forgotten?" Louise just shook her head, then sighed and walked past Hiato. "Let's go, she should be arriving soon." Hiato turned around and started walking after her. "Why is she visiting?" He asked.

"She's coming to attend the familiar exhibition that's taking place..." At that Louise remembered something, and did a full 180 turn, and then yelled into Hiato's face. "We still haven't prepared anything! And it's TOMORROW!" Hiato hadn't been expecting this, so he was blasted backwards onto his arse by the sound wave.

"Yeesh, next time your gonna do that, warn me first ok?" He asked. He got up. "And what's this exhibition?"

"It's something all second year students do, they have to prepare a routine or performance their familiar does, and there are prizes, and if I'm right the princess is going to be a judge this year!" Louise then looked at Hiato, and a smug grin spread across her face. "And I'm going to win because I have the most amazing familiar in the school!" At that, Hiato blushed and laughed awkwardly. "Well thanks... I guess..." Then Hiato's eyes lit up. "Wait... when you say performance or routine... does it necessarily have to be something specific?" He asked in a very curious tone.

"No, why?" she asked, wondering what her familiar was thinking. Hiato immediately got a thinking look on his face, with his hand on his chin and all. "hmm." He said. He then looked at Louise. "Don't worry, I'll think of something, and It will be quite a show." Louise saw the confident look he had on his face, and she smiled and nodded. "Good." She simply said, turned around and started walking, with Hiato following her.

Later on, Hiato and Louise were standing at the front of the crowd of students that had gathered, after she had charged headfirst through the students like a rampaging bull, to watch the arrival of Princess Henrietta, the crown princess of Tristain. Hiato was half curious, and half cautious. He had never seen the ruler of a country before, and frankly had never wanted to, considering the ruler of his kingdom back home had been the reason he was hunted for nearly his whole life, for a reason that Hiato didn't fully know. He was interested to see if this Princess was different, he was guessing that she probably had a different way to rule her kingdom. A fanfare of trumpets distracted him from his thoughts.

The princess was arriving in a purple carriage, being pulled by unicorns, and Hiato's mouth fell open when he saw them. He had never seen a unicorn before, and back in his world they were a simple myth, one of the "lost" animas kinds that had gone extinct long before he was born. Louise wasn't looking, otherwise she might have either yelled at him or laughed at him, his face was quite a sight indeed. Siesta was standing nearby and let out a small giggle at Hiato's expression.

Inside the carriage, Princess Henrietta took a deep breath. She was slightly nervous, not only for the events of the familiar exhibition, but also about seeing her childhood friend again who, according to the headmaster of the academy, had summoned what many had first believed to be a commoner, but turned out to be some kind of dragon-human hybrid with extraordinary power. He had managed to capture Fouquet the crumbling dirt, and even brought an exhausted Louise back to the academy, and refused to leave her side until she awoke. The princess was interested and yet scared at the same time as to what kind of person this familiar could be, and she hoped Louise had been able to manage with it. The carriage drew to a stop, and Henrietta stood up, took a deep breath, and went outside.

Hiato was surprised at how beautiful the princess looked. She had dark purple hair, blue-green eyes, and was very pretty all around. Hiato could tell immediately she was a kind and loved ruler, as all the people started to cheer when they saw her. She walked up to old Osmond, who Hiato didn't like because of his perverted tendencies. He immediately scanned the area around the princess's feet, and was surprised to not see a small white rat, which was actually on the old man's shoulder. After bowing to the princess and welcoming her, he stood up and said that all students have the rest of the day to practice their act for the next day, and there better not be any shabby performances. Hiato grinned at that, he had a few ideas, but he knew he was going to come up with something so amazing people will be speaking about it for years, and build a statute to his awesomeness.

Henrietta scanned the crowd and spotted her pink haired friend, and smiled. She then looked for what she was assuming to be a large, intimidating, scary looking person, but instead saw a boy about only a head taller than Louise, with brown hair that seemed to have a faint red tint to it, a soft, friendly face and bright green eyes. She got another surprise when 2 wings sprouted out of his back, and he launched himself into the air and flew off, with Louise yelling after him. She then breathed a sigh of relief. _At least her familiar looks like someone who would protect Louise, and isn't the scary brute I imagined._ She turned and walked towards the academy, following the headmaster.

* * *

It was late in the evening, Louise was in her room in her nightgown sitting on her bed, and she was nervous, which is a severe understatement. Her familiar had disappeared after the princess arrived, and she hadn't been able to find him anywhere. She tried to calm herself down, but she knew that they needed to prepare something for tomorrow, and considering how she would have to soon retire for the evening, there was almost no time to prepare something.

Little does she know, he's already got a plan.

Louise held her head in her hands; she was literally on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the _Princess _of all people. She flopped backwards onto her bed, and then just yelled out loud. "Dammit Hiato where the hell are you!?"

"Um right here, and keep the noise down people are trying to get to sleep you know." Louise bolted upright and looked to her left to see her familiar fly in through the window. "And where have you been?" She asked.

"Busy." He responded. Louise stood up and glared at him. "Well we need to prepare something for the exhibition tomorrow you know, and you not coming back till evening is going to make it very-"

"Already done, I've got something worked out, so don't worry. Just sit back, and let me do my thing." He said, with a very confident smile on his face. Louise's mouth was hanging open. "Wait what, you went and prepared something?" she blurted out.

"Uhh, yeah, what do you think I was doing all day, just flying around?" he fixed her with a very goofy-serious stare, and crossed his arms. Louise just growled at him. "Fine, but it better be good, if you embarrass me in front of the whole school..." She glared at him, and if looks could kill, Hiato would be halfway to heaven/hell/purgatory/wherever you go when you die, right now.

"I won't, I won't, don't worry about it, don't glare at me like your trying to kill me." Hiato said with a reassuring grin. Louise just kept glaring at him. "What are you planning to do?" she asked.

"Now that's something you'll have to wait till tomorrow to see." Louise narrowed her eyes at him, and he just grinned. "No spoilers." She just sighed, and Hiato walked past her to his bed and sat down. "Well it's been a long day, and I need my sleep to get my energy back for tomorrow, so let's call it a night shall we?" he asked.

Louise nodded and climbed into her bed. Hiato then lied down and closed his eyes. Louise however, couldn't close her eyes. She looked over at Hiato and felt a pang of guilt as she saw his hay bed, she then went red when the next thought popped into her mind, but swallowed and sat up, deciding she would ask him anyway.

"H-hey Hiato?" she asked. Hiato opened his eyes, sat up and looked at Louise. "Yeah, something wrong?" he asked. Louise felt her face go redder, and her heart pound in her ears, but she swallowed and took a deep breath. "W-would you like to s-sleep on m-my bed w-with m-me?" she said really quickly. Hiato got a surprised look on his face, and started blushing profusely.

"Ummm, err... I don't know..." Hiato scratched the back of his head and looked away. Louise felt like her face was on fire from how much she was blushing. "I-if you really don't want to its ok!" she stammered out, she was worried he might think she was weird now.

"I-I really don't see why not... I mean... I'm just sleeping in the bed... right...?" He said, swallowing and looking at Louise, who went redder and nodded. He got up and climbed into the bed next to her.

As he lay down, he realised how comfortable Louise's bed was, and immediately felt like he was drifting off to sleep. "Thanks." He said to Louise, and then looked at her, and smiled. She nodded quickly. "I-it's a pleasure!" She then took a deep breath and lied down next to him. She glanced at him, and slowly crept closer to him, and when she realised he was asleep, she cuddled up against him and then he turned onto his side and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. She blushed a bit, but quickly got over it. He was still asleep.

_Do I really love him? I guess I probably do, and I'm guessing he feels the same way. _She snuggled closer to her familiar, and started to get sleepy. Her familiar's body was warm, and she felt like she was in a little cocoon wrapped in his arms, and as she drifted off to sleep, she had a smile on her face.

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**And that's that! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, a bit fluffy but I like it, and I hope you do too! Anyway, see you in the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello and welcome to chapter 9! For a warning, from here on, I will only loosely follow the events of the show, and most of what happens past this chapter, I will try to make original. Other than that's, thanks again to all those who have read and reviewed! Also I'm starting another fan fiction, so could you guys please check it out and tell me what you think. I Won't say anything about it, and I've decided im going to alternate between updating this one and the other one, so one chapter for this one in a week, then next week one for the other one and so on, so let's get going with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own familiar of zero.**

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Louise was nervous. She had no idea what her familiar was planning, and hoped whatever it was, that it would be amazing. She turned her head to look at him. He had a very confidant smile on his face, and noticed she was looking at him, and chuckled. "You look like your about to pass out from nerves." A tick mark appeared on her forehead. "Well that's cause you won't tell me what you're planning, and what I have to do." Hiato laughed at this. "You don't have to do anything, just sit back and enjoy the show." He gave her a confidant smile. Louise just sighed. Nearly all the other students had gone already, Tabitha had done an impressive display with Sylphid, Kirche had awed the crowd with her familiar by making fire patterns in the sky, and Guiche... he had done what any self-respecting snob would do,

"Next up, Louise Valliere and her familiar!" Louise swallowed and walked forward onto the stage, Hiato next to her. As they are walking along she heard people whispering, but she ignored them. As they reached the centre of the stage, she stops and turns to face the crowd. She then takes a deep breath and says:

"This is my familiar, Hiato, a Dragonoid." There was a gasp from the crowd, and more whispering. "A dragonoid? Whats that." Were some of the things she heard. She then looked at Hiato, who was looking up into the sky. Suddenly fire started to swirl around his hands, and the whole crowd fell silent. Louise threw a glance over the crowd to see the princess watching with a keen interest, and then something caught her eye.

There was a man standing to the left of the princesses raised Dias, he was just behind it but was watching Hiato with a strange smile on his face. He had black hair that came down to his shoulders; his face was very long and sunken, and seemed to have a malicious look to it. His eyes were grey, and seemed evil. He glanced at Louise, and she felt a shiver go down her spine. She then glanced back at Hiato, who seemed to be sending his fire into the air for some reason. She looked up and saw that he was making rings in different patterns in the sky, and they were floating about. They all seemed to settle in a sort of circuit that seemed to finish with a ring that was floating close to the stage. He then conjured a ball of fire and made it float in the middle of the last ring.

"Ok Hiato, what are you doing?" Louise asked. He looked at her and gave her a look that seemed as though she was asking a stupid question. "Isn't it obvious, I'm going to be flying through these rings." Louise looked up, and followed the path of the rings, then seeing how close to the buildings a few were, and close to the ground the last one was, she blurted out. "Surely you can't really be thinking of doing this, I mean... what if you hit the buildings, or the ground!?" Hiato just smirked at her. "Trust me; I know what I'm doing." Hiato then spread his wings, and was just about to take off when he looked at Louise. "And for the record, don't call me Shirley." Hiato then took off into the air, leaving behind a confused looking Louise.

Hiato flew up until he was above the highest of the rings. He then took a deep breath; he had practiced this about 30 times, and had only screwed up about 13 times, so he was sure he knew what he was doing. Sort of. He flapped his wings a few times to gain a little more height before diving straight down towards the first ring. The circuit he had made had 25 rings, including the last one. First there was a dive through 3, then a quick left towards the central tower, where he would fly through 4 rings that were moving about, then when he got to the tower pass through a ring that was facing the tower and extremely close, then turn right before he went headfirst into the wall. Following that was another 5 moving rings around the tower, as he passed through each ring they broke and went to form part of a large ball of fire that was above the stage. After those 5 he had seven in a zigzag pattern, and he almost touched the side of a ring twice, then there was the last 4. One was moving up and down, one left and right, one diagonally and one around in circles, which was at an angle towards the ground. He quickly navigated through these, and as he passed through the last ring, he pulled his wings in and dived towards the last ring.

Beneath him the crowd had been watching with great interest, and now were getting nervous as he was diving towards the ground. Louise especially, she had seen him do a dive bomb before and not screw it up, but she was still nervous, worried what the reaction would be if her familiar ended up headfirst in the ground, probably everyone would laugh at her, and the princess wouldn't even consider the performance for anything better than last place. So far, Louise had been amazed at what her familiar had done, and she was expecting that if he managed to finish it the way he intended, it would be awe inspiring.

Hiato was getting closer to the ground, and the final ring. He knew that this was an all or nothing gambit, if it worked, Louise would probably come first, if it failed, he would end up with a bloody painful headache, a face full of dirt, and about 100 people laughing at him, well at least he would provide comedic relief if that happened. Time slowed down as he reached the final ring, reaching out he grabbed the ball of fire, extended his wings, and waiting for the right moment, flapped them and managed to change course. Time sped up as he went straight over the heads of the crowd, and quickly flapped his wings again to avoid going headfirst into the wall. As he soared up into the air, he turned around to face the stage.

_Now for the grand finale. _The ball of fire that had been gathering above the stage now turned into a dragon, and it let out a great roar, making the crowd gasp. Smirking, Hiato charged towards the dragon with the ball of fire in his right hand, and the dragon charged towards him. As he got closer he held his right arm out, and flew straight through the fire-dragon, but the fireball in his hand was missing. Quickly flapping his wings, he managed to slow his decent and landed on the stage with a large thud. The dragon flew up into the air and after about 5 seconds after Hiato landed, exploded into a giant firework. Smaller fireworks shot out the explosion and went off, sending more fireworks out. The explosion was spectacular, and everyone, except the man behind the Dias, who smirked and walked off, muttering to himself "Better tell Arthur he's the one", jumped up and started clapping furiously.

Bits of the fireworks explosions were floating down like torches, small lights that were about 5 times bigger than a grain of dust, but bright enough to be seen clearly, made a scene that was truly awe inspiring. Louise's eyes were wide in amazement, and her mouth just hung open at the display, and she slowly turned to look at Hiato who seemed pleased with his handiwork.

"See, what I tell you, it was amazing." He said looking at Louise, who nodded slowly, still unable to truly comprehend just how beautiful the scene in front of her was. Some of the little lights were floating down around her as well, and suddenly Hiato walked over to her, and slid his hand in hers, which made her blush and him to a small extent.

"This is all for you, you know. I really went all out with this, but to be honest, I didn't need all these people to see it to know I did a good job. Once I saw the look on your face after I finished, then I knew I had done a good job." Hiato smiled at Louise, who felt like her face was about to catch fire from the blush she was experiencing. "T-thanks Hiato, it really means a lot for you to do this." She managed to say, not looking at Hiato to prevent him seeing her blush.

Hiato just laughed. "You know, I think it's cute when you blush. Really matches your hair." He said teasingly, and Louise just went redder, and turned to look at him, with an angry look on her face, which Hiato laughed at, and Louise just got angrier.

"What are you laughing at?" she barked at him. Hiato stopped laughing and just looked at her with a smile on his face. "You know, if you didn't take everything so personally, you would probably have more friends, and also don't be ashamed of your feelings." Louise got angrier, and scrunched up her face. "What are you talking abo-"

Suddenly she was cut off mid-sentence, and when she realised what had just happened, she blushed to the roots of her hair, and her eyes went wide. Hiato had just _kissed _her on the lips. At that moment her mind just went into overload, she didn't know what to think or do, but then she just closed her eyes, and kissed Hiato back. She didn't know how long she stood there in the kiss, it felt like forever, but eventually Hiato broke it, and Louise saw his face had also gone red. "That's what I'm talking about." He said with a smile, and then turned to face the crowd, and gave an excessively showy bow. Louise frowned at him, but then turned to face the crowd, who had somehow missed the 2 of them kissing, and gave a curtsey.

The princess looked at the stage as Louise curtseyed, and she responded in kind. The whole crowd now turned back to face the stage, and started clapping furiously again. Hiato and Louise bowed and curtseyed respectively, and then walked off stage. All the students were looking at Louise with shocked looks on their faces, and this gave Louise a sense of great pride, and she stood slightly more upright. Hiato had to stop himself from laughing at the looks on the other students faces as they walked past them, well everyone except Tabitha, who just said as they walked past her. "Nice." Sylphid stepped out and nuzzled her head against Hiato, and he responded by patting her on the head.

After the last few students went, who didn't produce anything even near the level of Hiato's performance. As the last student, a thin looking kid wearing glasses with an owl for his familiar, walked off. Louise got nervous again. She knew her familiar performance had been exceptional, and probably the best, but she was still nervous. The announcer next to the Princess cleared his throat, and using a spell to amplify his voice volume, started to call out the top 5.

"In 5th place, we have Jean de Caparias..." A medium height boy with a phoenix familiar walked onto stage. "In 4th place we have Guiche de Gramont..." Guiche walked onto stage, looking like the posh snob he is. "In 3rd place we have Kirche Zerbst..." the red head strolled onto stage with her usual walk, with a smug grin on her face. "In 2nd place we have... Tabitha..." Tabitha walked onto stage followed by Sylphid, the smug grin on Kirche's face was gone now.

"And in 1st place, we have... Louise de Valliere!"

Louise was filled with pride as she walked on stage, and Kirche had a rather distraught look on her face, and Hiato just had a smile. He didn't care about winning the competition for himself, he glanced at the huge smile on Louise's face, and how happy she seemed to be, because he only cared about making Louise happy. He chuckled. _Well I guess it's too late for me, but what's the point in trying to deny how I feel about her? _He just smiled to himself, and bowed when the princess walked up to Louise to personally congratulate her.

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Later in Louise's room, Louise was lying on her bed, looking at the roof with a smile almost permanently stuck to her face. Today had been the best day of her life, she had proven she wasn't a zero, and Hiato had_ kissed_ her, but as she thought of that she blushed profusely. She can still remember how her brain seemed to go into overload then just turn into sludge almost straight afterwards. She had enjoyed it, and she wished that it had never ended. Since that moment, Hiato had started to joke around with her, and tease her, and she had managed to actually smile for once instead of get angry like she usually did. Her familiar was currently out doing the laundry, which Louise was unaware meant give the laundry to Siesta, run off to the kitchen, eat enough food to feed an army, then get the completed laundry from Siesta and come back upstairs acting like he'd done it, or just fly up to the window, depending on his mood.

At that moment, Hiato flew in through the open window, and Louise sat up straight and looked at him. Hiato had a tired look on his face. After Hiato's display, Osmond had also walked up to Louise to congratulate her, and had promptly caught fire when his mouse (which Hiato saw was trying to peer up the princess's skirt) experienced near spontaneous combustion, except it was just its hair that caught fire. It had panicked and run up its master's leg onto his shoulder, setting his robe on fire, and then his beard, which he only managed to save half of. He now walked around with a scowl on his face, because every student would double over in laughter at the sight of his slightly singed face and the fact the entire left side of his face was now deprived of hair, and that his mouse was now completely bald and slightly black. Hiato was exhausted because when Osmond erupted into flames, instead of doing what a sane mage would do and immediately use magic to put the fire out, he ran around like a headless chicken, flailing his arms like an idiot, screaming like a little girl, and managed to set the stage on fire, Hiato had to contain the fire, and since Osmond was running around setting stuff on fire, he had a hard time of it.

He eventually managed to stop Osmond from burning down the whole academy, and afterwards had to make a quick exit when Osmond started wondering how his mouse had caught fire. All in all, it had been a long day for the dragonoid, and he was looking like he just wanted to go to sleep soon. He walked over to the table and put the laundry down and looked at Louise. "Laundry, done, me sleep now. If you have problem, keep it till morning." Louise laughed at his disjointed speech, and Hiato frowned at her. "Not funny, stop laughing." He said, before walking over to the bed and falling on it next to Louise, who giggled at his behaviour. Hiato just sighed. "No but seriously, can we go to sleep soon, I feel like I'm about to fall over when I'm standing up, that whole business with Osmond was a pain."

At the mention of the headmaster, Louise got a curious look on her face. "Did you actually set his mouse on fire?" Hiato let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head. "Well... _technically _I didn't set him it fire..." Louise sweat dropped at this. "You know if he finds out I could get in _serious _trouble right?" Hiato laughed again. "Don't worry, he will never know, and besides it's what he deserves, the old pervert, trying to use his mouse to peek up girl's skirts." Louise went red at this. "W-wait does that mean..." Hiato looked at her. "Don't worry, I caught it trying to peak up yours once, and I gave it a warning that it would die if it did, and now hopefully Osmond has learnt his lesson." Hiato smirked, and Louise sighed. She was sure that if what Hiato had done was found out by Osmond, she would be in a rather large amount of trouble, and her mother would be furious, but she decided she would worry about that tomorrow.

At that moment someone knocked on the door. Hiato bolted upright and looked at the door. "OK, that's either Kirche coming to give me another gift, someone pulling a prank or a staff member, either way, I think I should get it." Hiato stood up, and wobbled unsteadily on his feet, and sort of hobbled/dragged himself across the room, and Louise had to fight to resist laughing at him. He got to the door, flopped against it and opened it about an inch.

"Hello?" He asked. Outside the door was a stranger in a hood, who immediately pushed the door open and quickly entered the room. Unfortunately for Hiato who was standing behind the door, this meant that as the stranger pushed the door open, Hiato was hit in the chest by a door moving at high speed which sent him flying through the air and he hit the wall headfirst, and quickly announced his displeasure by saying. "Ouch." Louise stood up, wand in hand, and glared at the intruder.

"Who are you?" she demanded of the cloaked stranger. "And why are you here? Answer me!" She pointed her wand at the intruder, who then looked up at her.

"My dear Louise, it certainly has been a while, hasn't it?" The stranger pulled her hood back, revealing her to be Princess Henrietta. Louise's face turned from one of anger to one of shock faster than you could drop a hat, and immediately went down on one knee. "Princess! My most humble apologies, I did not know it was you." The princess just smiled and walked up to her old friend. "No apologies are needed, it was only natural for you to react the way you did to a stranger who suddenly burst into your room without invitation."

"And sent me flying headfirst into a wall, thanks a lot for that, it's really gonna help me sleep." The princess turned to see Hiato managing to stand up, holding the back of his head. "My apologies, I take it you must be Louise's familiar? The Dragonoid I've heard about?" Hiato just gave a nod. "Hiato, that's me, and you're the princess? I have to admit, not the best of introductions." Henrietta laughed at this, but before she could say anything, Hiato suddenly found he was getting a very close up and _painful _view of the floorboards.

"Do not speak to the princess like that!" Louise barked at Hiato, who was literally on the verge of passing out. "My apologies, my Familiar can act out of line sometimes, please forgive him." Henrietta laughed, and just smiled. "It's alright, and stop acting so formal, were friends aren't we? You're so uptight Louise, try to relax." Hiato forced his head away from the floorboards and said "Thank you princess, and I too apologize, but I have been trying to make her less uptight, and I think I'm making progress." Louise was about to slam dunk his face into the floor again when Henrietta smiled. "Thank you, it is good to know my best friend has a familiar with such a good heart." Hiato went a little red at this. "To be honest princess it's not because I have a good heart, it's because I care about Louise, and I just want to make her happy." Louise went red at this, and she got a lump in her throat, and the princess giggled.

"I fear this may be more than just a familiar-master relationship." Louise went redder and looked down at the floor, but the princess cut her off from saying anything. "It's ok Louise, now look at me, I hate to say this, but I bring bad news." Louise and Hiato both looked at the princess who now had a serious face. "What is it?" Louise asked, all her precious formality gone; now addressing the princess in a tone more suited for friends. The princess smiled a little at this, but then turned serious again. "I'm not sure how to tell you this, but you..." she looked at Hiato "... are in a great amount of danger, and not from the headmaster."

Hiato's face had gone serious now, and he almost seemed to look older. "What do you mean? What kind of danger?" He asked. "Life threatening danger, but it's just you. You and every other dragon like familiar in Tristain." Hiato frowned.

"What are you talking about, is someone hunting down dragon like familiars?" The princess nodded gravely, and Hiato got a look of shock on his face. "They are known as the Guild of dragon slayers, or their official title, the order of the grand hunt. They are a recently new group, who's only purpose is to hunt down dragons and kill them, be they familiars or wild, and you especially having attracted their interest." Hiato clenched his fists, and looked down. "I believe so long as you remain at the academy, you should be safe, but there are no guarantees, as they could easily sneak into the academy and assassinate you." The princess added.

"Dammit no. Not again, I will NOT let that happen again!" He looked at the princess, who was surprised by the look in his eyes. "I will NOT go on the run again, I've finally found a home and people who I can protect and care about, I will NOT let whoever these bastards are take that away from me! I would rather die, I'm not running anymore." Louise and Henrietta were surprised by his tone of voice. Louise had never heard him speak like that before, he was angry, and also another thing. Louise could hear pain in his voice, she knew what he meant. He had told her about how he had been an exile in his world, how he had been all alone, and now he was afraid the same thing would happen again.

Louise moved over to Hiato and then, without warning him, lifted up his face and kissed him on the lips, surprising him and Henrietta. When she broke the kiss, she saw his cheeks had gone red, and she could feel her own cheeks going red, but she had a serious look on her face.

"I promise you, I won't let whoever these dragon slayers are hurt you, and I promise you will not be alone again, I promise." Hiato face was still one of surprise, but as Louise's words registered; his face seemed to brighten up. "R-really?" Louise nodded. "I promise, I will do anything I can." She then looked at the princess, who was still surprised from earlier. "Princess, can you also help us with this?" she recovered and nodded her head. "I will do my best to ensure your safety, your familiars' safety and the safety of all the dragons here at the academy." Hiato looked at her, and then he nodded. "Thank you, princess. It means a lot to me, and I'm glad to see your one who cares about her country and its people."

Henrietta curtseyed. "I am honored to have the approval of a dragon." Hiato bowed. "The honour is all mine princess." The princess then looked at the 2 of them. "I will start by having investigations done into the guild, and seeing what I can find. I will also see if I can find out where their base of operations is." Hiato and Louise nodded. "Make sure to inform the headmaster as well, he has to know." Louise added. "I will tomorrow morning, and Tabitha must be informed as well. This threat is a great one, and I will need your help and your familiar's in dealing with it, Louise Valliere." Louise stood upright. "I will do anything the princess commands of me!" Hiato nodded. "As will I, as long as it brings these bastards to justice." Henrietta smiled. "I am glad to have your support."

She pulled her hood up and made her way to the door. "I will speak to you tomorrow; then we can discuss more of this matter, but for now I'm sure your familiar needs some sleep." Louise heard a loud _thud_ and turned to her right to see Hiato collapsed on the floor, quickly falling asleep. "Goodnight Louise, Hiato." Louise turned to look at her. "Goodnight, Henrietta." The princess smiled, and exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Louise turned around and looked at Hiato who had managed to sit up and was looking at her. She walked over and helped him get into bed; rather he just collapsed onto the bed, and then moved so he wasn't taking up three quarters of it. Louise sat down on the other side and looked at him.

"Huh, looks like wherever I go, danger seems to follow me." Hiato said, and then looked at Louise. "But this time I'm not running away, this time I'll stay and fight." Louise smiled at this, and then climbed into bed and wrapped her arms around Hiato. "Good and I'll make sure I can learn how to use magic properly so I can help you fight." Now it was Hiato's turn to smile. "Thanks, and I'll help you learn magic, and I'll also train so I can get stronger." Louise looked at Hiato's face, which had a smile on it. She smiled back and then rested her head against his chest. As she drifted off to sleep, she realized something.

Today had been the best day of her life so far, but it had also been the last normal day of her life.

**And there it is! Hope you all enjoyed AND like the new direction im taking the story in. Anyw**

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**ay, thank you all again for reading, and once again, please review, I read them all! Thank you once more, and I will see you in the next chapter! Bye bye!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello everybody and welcome to chapter 10! Thanks again to all those who have read and reviewed, it means a lot. Also next week I may not be able to get a chapter of Fan fic up because I'm going to be away for most of the week, so sorry about that. Anyway, on with chapter 10!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ.**

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_They lit up the air around her like little stars. Thousands of them, and she was captivated by their beauty. For as far as she could see, these little lights were hanging, suspended on invisible threads. She looked around, as far as she could tell, she was alone. She looked up to see the stars stretched across the sky, almost every inch of sky was filled with stars. Then she heard something, the sound of beating wings. She turned towards the source of the noise, expecting to see Hiato approaching, but instead of Hiato, there was something else, and when she saw it, she wasn't sure if she should be scared or be amazed._

_There was a dragon flying towards her through the sky, and Louise could feel the force of each beat of its wings. As it drew closer, the force of its wings scattered the little lights away from Louise, she held up her arms to shield her face from the gusts of wind, and the dragon landed in front of her. The dragon was enormous, it dwarfed Louise, which made her feel uncomfortable, because it could step on her and not even notice. However, it did notice her, and looked down at her at the same time Louise looked up at it. Its eyes were light blue, in contrast to its dark blue scales, and Louise just felt that from simply making eye contact with this dragon, it was a being of possibly immeasurable power._

"_Greetings, Louise Valliere." It said in a voice that sounded old. Old and powerful. "Do not fear, I mean you no harm, nor do I mean Hiato any." Louise blinked at the dragon. She was confused as to how the dragon knew who she was, or who Hiato was. "W-who are you? How do you know who Hiato is and how do you know who I am?" The dragon chuckled. "My my, you certainly can fire them off quickly can't you?" The dragon said, and Louise felt a pang of annoyance. The dragon chuckled again. _

"_My apologies, it's been a while since I've talked to anyone, so I'm lacking in the social department. As for your questions, I'm afraid I won't be able to answer the first one, but I can answer the next 2." Louise's annoyance faded. "Why can't you tell me who you are?" She asked._

"_Because who I am isn't important right now. As for how I know Hiato, I've known him my whole life, and I know you because Hiato knows you." Louise just looked at the dragon, and all she could say is. "What?" The dragon sighed. "You'll understand one day, but I must warn you. This group, the order of the grand hunt, do not underestimate them. They are a small part of a greater evil; one which I fear will soon be moving soon to try to conquer the world. You must train as hard as you can to unlock your true powers as a void mage Louise." _

_At this Louise got more confused. "Greater evil? True power? And did you call me a v-void mage?!"_

"_Yes I did, and your powers will mean the difference between saving this world and it being destroyed. We have talked enough, you must go now, and do not tell Hiato about this, do you understand?" Louise just looked at the dragon._

"_Why?" Louise asked, more confused. "Because he must find out who I am on his own, and do not worry, knowing him, he will find out very soon. Now, morning is here, you must awaken." Before Louise could say anything else, the dragon disappeared, and everything went black._

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Louise's eyes slowly opened. She was still wrapped in the warmth of Hiato's arms, and she smiled. Her dream was hazy, she could barely remember anything about it, except the dragon, the lights and some of what it said, but what she remembered didn't make much sense. She decided it wasn't important, and wouldn't bother Hiato about it. She lifted her head from his chest and looked at his face. She had to supress a giggle when she saw his face; he looked silly when he slept. His mouth was hanging open, but only a little bit, and in a cute way. She leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips.

Hiato suddenly became aware of something soft pressing against his lips. He had been having a rather pleasant dream about being at a food contest and winning, but not before managing to eat enough food to feed a city for a month, and then taking Louise for a flight. He had been just about to kiss her, when his brain had said "Nope" and yanked him out of slumber land and back into reality. However what he was greeted with when he returned was rather pleasant. He opened his eyes, and was surprised to see that Louise was kissing him, so he decided to return the kiss.

They broke apart and Hiato smiled at her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of being awoken in such a way?" He asked jokingly, and Louise just shook her head. "Just you being you." Hiato sat upright and assumed a proud air. "Well I am totally amazing you know, the best there ever is or was." Louise chuckled and playfully hit him on the shoulder, to which Hiato responded by making a hurt face.

"That realllllyyyyy hurt, why are you so meaaaannnnn to me I didn't do anythinnnnng." Louise raised an eyebrow at him, and then just jumped on him and kissed him. They held the kiss for 10 seconds before breaking apart. "Does that make it up to you?" She asked. Hiato nodded. "But some food would be nice too." Louise just smiled. "Don't worry; I'm sure the chefs are cooking up a feast for you right now." Louise jumped out of bed and started to get changed; Hiato got out of bed and stood by the window, his back to Louise.

"I guess were going to have to start training today, if we want to be ready for this "Order of the grand hunt" or whatever their called." Louise finished changing and walked up next to him, taking his hand. Hiato opened the window as she did. "Yeah, but we will be ready for them, and we'll beat them, together." They looked at each other, and Hiato smirked. "No, I'll beat them, you can just sit on the side-lines and make a few of them blow up." He said in a joking tone, and a small tick mark appeared on Louise's forehead.

"Or I could blow you up instead you know." She gave him an evil look, and nervously scratched the back of his head. "I-I'm kidding, we will beat them together, of course we will." Louise just glared at him, and then his face turned serious. "It isn't going to be easy; we'll have to train as hard as we can." Louise nodded. "I know, but we don't really have a choice."

"Well we could always go live somewhere secluded, buy a house, get married, have some kids..." Louise went as red as a Tomato at this, yelled "SHUT UP!", and punched Hiato out the window , who had only a second to realise the pain of being punched, one to realise he was outside a window, and one to realise he was plummeting towards the ground at an incredibly fast rate, with no sign of slowing down. Managing to spread his wings and slow down, Hiato prevented creating an impact crater and flew back up to the window, where there was a rather red looking Louise, who had a worried look on her face.

"Jeez I was joking relax, we aren't going to go hide somewhere, we are going to fight." Louise looked relieved he was ok, and then sighed. "Don't ever say something like that again, ok?" She said to Hiato, who just nodded. "Promise I won't. Anyway, we should go see the headmaster and the princess and see what they know about these guys." Louise nodded, and the two of them walked out her room and to the headmaster's office.

When they arrived, they were greeted by the princess, the headmaster and professor Colbert. Louise gave the princess a small curtsey, and Hiato bowed. Once they gathered around Osmond's desk, Osmond shot a threatening look at Hiato, who responded in kind, and there was friction in the air between them until Henrietta defused the situation before the tower got blown up.

"Now is not the time for petty grudges, we must work together if we are to handle this threat." Osmond and Hiato broke their glare and looked at the princess. "Firstly, Osmond I would like you to inform Louise of her mage status." Osmond looked surprised but regained his composure. "Well Miss valliere, here's the thing, we figured out why you're so bad at magic." Louise shot the old pervert a look of death, and Hiato quickly scanned the floor for a certain white rodent to roast. He was impressed when he saw the mouse on the old man's shoulder. _Good, the old bastards learnt his lesson. _

"It's because you're a void mage." Colbert said, saving the headmaster from the over bearing glare he was receiving from Louise. Louise's face promptly turned to one of total shock. "W-what?" She asked.

"You heard the professor young lady, you are a void mage, now stop acting surprised, we don't have time for it." Osmond said, looking at Louise seriously. Louise's brain was in overload. _M-me a void mage?! But that's impossible! Void mages are supposed to be ones of great talent and- _Suddenly her dream flashed back to her_ "...Your true powers as a void mage Louise." _Those words echoed through her mind, and it felt like an eternity until she regained awareness of her surroundings.

"Oh dear it looks like you've sent her into shock." Hiato said, looking at Louise, who regained her senses as he said that. "Never mind." He quickly added. He then looked at the headmaster. "What is a void mage?" he asked

"A void mage is one who can control the legendary element of void." _I would have never guessed, I really don't thing you needed to clarify that old man _Hiato said to himself _"_They are powerful, extremely so, the founder brimir himself was a Void mage, and that brings us to how we know you are a void mage, because you are Gandalfr, Hiato."

Now Hiato was confused. "Gandalfr?" Osmond nodded. "One of Brimirs legendary familiars, he was said to be the master of all weapons, able to use any of them without any difficulty and master them instantly upon touching them." _Sounds useful _he said to himself. "Ok, so what about these Dragon hunters?" Hiato asked.

The princess stepped forward. "They are fairly new, we only learnt about them a week ago, and what we've heard is not good. They mercilessly hunt dragons, and sometimes even kill the mage if it's a familiar they are hunting." Louise grabbed Hiato's hand and held it tight. "They appear to be active in all major nations except for one..." Hiato looked at the princess. "Which one?" he asked. "Albion, for some reason we have no word of them being active in that kingdom, but it may just be due to the rebellion taking place there." Hiato nodded. "Anything else?" He asked.

"Yes, it's about them knowing about you. They have started making inquiries about you to the nobility and the academy, they are asking if you would be willing to meet them at a specified location so they can 'observe' you, they promise no harm will come to your person, nor any to anyone you bring with you. They have also been trying to gleam as much information about you as they possibly can from us."

"What has been your response?" Hiato asked.

"We have provided them with as little information about you as we can, unfortunately they do know you are at the academy, and they do know about your powers and that Louise is your master, we have no idea how they found that out." Henrietta looked at Osmond. "They also made inquiries about Tabitha, but they fortunately know far less about her, so it has been easier to keep them from finding out about her."

"Has she been told about this?" Louise asked.

"She will be, Professor Colbert, I think you should inform Miss Tabitha right away about the situation." The professor nodded and left the room quickly. "What's this about a rebellion?" Hiato asked.

"An unknown faction has risen up in Albion, and is currently fighting the crown for control of the country in a massive revolution, last I heard, it was not going well for them." The princess said.

"Is it possible the 2 are connected?" Hiato asked the princess, with a thoughtful look on his face. "Possibly, but we cannot be sure, as we do not know if they are active in Albion or not."

"It would make sense... send them in as saboteurs... take out any mages with dragons... remove a significant threat..." Hiato looked at the princess. "Do the rebels use dragons?" he asked. The princess nodded. "According to reports we have received, yes they do, why do you want to know?"

"Hmm... well IF these guys aren't active in Albion, I reckon they could be connected to these rebels you're talking about." Hiato looked at the princess. "But as you said, we don't know fully what's going on over there, so they could really be just a rouge faction with their own aims, but we don't know for sure." The princess nodded. "Indeed, you seem to be able to analyse things like this quite quickly." Hiato shrugged. "Hey I'm not an idiot; my brain does work, despite popular belief." Louise smiled at this. "No one said you were an idiot you know."

"No one said I wasn't either." Hiato pointed out. Louise rolled her eyes at him. Hiato looked at the princess. "And we have no idea where their bases are or anything?" The princess shook her head. "No we don't, in fact as I said before, we only know they exist because they willingly revealed their presence to us, had they not, they would have gone unnoticed for a long time, perhaps until it was too late."

"So what's the plan?" Hiato asked. "We will be stepping up security here at the academy greatly, to ensure none of these dragon slayers can get in and harm either you or Tabitha's dragon." Osmond said. "I will be doing my best to try to find out what I can about this guild, and see if I can locate its base of operations. It is a threat to many mages in this country, and I will not allow them to go around slaughtering dragons as they please." Hiato and Louise nodded. "And we will be training as hard as we can so if we do have to fight them, we can win." The headmaster and princess nodded. "You can get started today. Louise Valliere, I give you permission to miss classes today in order to train with your familiar." The pinkette bowed to the headmaster. "Thank you sir!" Hiato bowed as well. "Thank you sir."

The princess smiled. "Good to see you are committed. Well I guess we should all get to work then, I will see you again Louise, train hard." Louise smiled and nodded at the princess. "I will, and good luck to you princess." Henrietta nodded back, and the 2 girls embraced each other. As they did, Hiato and Osmond exchanged a glance. "This isn't over." Osmond growled. "You will pay." Hiato smirked. "I look forward to it, grey hairs." Osmond was about to stand up and yell at him when the 2 girls broke their embrace and Hiato and Osmond looked at them with smiles on their faces.

"Come on Hiato lets go." Louise walked up to Hiato and took his hand and led him out the office. As the door shut, Hiato sneaked once last glare at Osmond. "Do you think they will be ok?" Henrietta asked Osmond. "I'm sure they will, that Valliere girl never has been one to give up, and I doubt her familiar is different." The princess nodded. "I hope your right."

* * *

Outside in one of the courtyards, Hiato and Louise were preparing to start training. Hiato decided he would practice some of his martial arts, and Louise would try to cast a spell without it blowing up in her face the whole time. After about 10 minutes, Hiato decided it would be best for him to help Louise. "Need help?" he asked walking over. Louise was breathing heavily, she had spent the last 10 minutes firing off explosion spells without stop, and it had taken a toll on her.

"N-no I'm fine." She said.

"You clearly aren't because you look like you've been dragged through a bush backwards, so let me help." Louise glared at him, but she didn't say anything. "Ok, how should I start?" she asked him.

"Well to be honest, I don't know how to train someone who uses magic, but I'll give it a shot." He walked up to her and gave her a hug. She was about to ask if this was part of the training when she felt her stamina being restored suddenly. When Hiato let go, she felt like nothing had happened. "What did you just do?" she asked. "I just restored your stamina, turns out If I concentrate hard enough, I can restore someone's stamina and heal their wounds."

"Really?" Hiato nodded. "Yep, now let's get to training shall we?" Louise nodded. After an hour of intense training, the 2 of them relaxed under a tree in the court yard. "How you feeling?" Hiato asked Louise, who gave him a look that asked said 'Are you really asking me?'

"I feel _great _Hiato, _thanks _for asking." It took Hiato a second to realise she was being sarcastic. He was stunned. "Hiato are you ok?" She asked him, waving a hand in front of her face. "No I'm fine just recovering from the shock of you using sarcasm, it sounds weird, but I like it, good to see you aren't so stuck up anymore." Louise looked at him and she frowned. "Stuck up?" She asked. "Yeah, when I met you, you had a lot of pride, too much; but now, you're more down to earth, and I like that." Louise blushed at this and looked away. Hiato just laughed and hugged her from behind.

"It's a good thing, and every day I can see your slowly turning more into a person other people can like. You know what Louise?" Louise looked at him. "I have an idea, and I know you won't like it, but I reckon it's a good one." Louise raised an eyebrow at him. "And what idea is that?" She asked.

"You should become friends with Kirche Zerbst."

Louise looked at him for a full 10 seconds to comprehend what he had just said. "Friends." Hiato nodded. "With Zerbst?" Hiato nodded again. "Are you stupid? Her family and mine are rivals; I would never stoop so low as to become her friend." Hiato sighed _this is gonna take a while. _"Well don't you think you should try to fix that hatred?" Louise just looked at him. "Why should i? What could I possible gain from it?"

"A chance to right the wrongs of the past and perhaps make a friend? You know what we are going into right? If these rebels in Albion want to spread their revolution, there could be a war, and if that happens, were going to need all the help we can get, and having rivals isn't going to help. Plus, and I know I'm sounding really dark here, but if you die, or she dies, do you want that to happen, and be left wondering if you could have ever been good friends?" Hiato was looking seriously now at Louise.

She had never thought about that, and frankly, she knew her mother would never approve of the idea, yet thinking over what Hiato had just said, she felt a sense of rebellion swelling up inside her. She then got an evil smile on her face. "Ok, I'll do it, on one condition." She looked at Hiato, who got a worried look when he saw her face. "Ok, what's that?"

"After our next training session, you have to fly me around the school, and then when we are above the central tower, you have to kiss me." Hiato raised an eyebrow. "Ok... that sounds easy enough..." Louise smiled. "Thanks Hiato!" She said in a really high pitched voice which scared Hiato a little bit, but he smiled.

"Alright then, lets get to work."

* * *

**And that's that! Sorry it's a bit shorter than usual, but I reckon it's good. Please read and review, and I will see you in the next chapter, bye bye!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everybody and welcome to chapter 11! sorry its been a while since I've updated this, but I promise that now I am back on my regular schedule for chapter updates,and I apologize for my laziness, procrastination is a deadly disease :P. Anyway, lets get back to what Hiato and Louise are up to!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

**"_when someone is talking telepathically."_**

* * *

Hiato collapsed on the ground under a tree after his intense training session. He looked over and saw Louise was panting heavily, but she had a look of achievement on her face. She had managed to gain control of her magic, for the first time in her life, and it now only blew up stuff she wanted it to, rather than anything and everything she casted a spell on. She looked over at Hiato and smiled weakly, before stumbling over and then falling onto Hiato, who let out a "Ofh!" (I don't know how to spell that noise, don't you judge me) as she landed on him. "Could you give me warning next time your planning to use me as a mattress?" Hiato asked sarcastically. Louise looked up from his chest into his light green eyes and just giggled. _Its still unnatural to hear her giggle I swear... _"Maybe, maybe not, why don't you like it?" She asked him.

"If your asking whether or not I like you jumping and/or falling on me randomly, then..." before he could finish Louise leaned up and kissed him on the lips. Hiato returned the kiss, and they only broke apart about a minute later. "... then I don't mind." Hiato finished. He let his head rest on the ground, and Louise then rolled off of him to lye next to him instead, she moved up so her head was next to his. "Ugh damn training is hard, I feel like someone's dragged me through a bush, backwards, and on fire." He let out a small laugh. The 2 of them lied there for about 5 minutes, just recovering their strength, before Hiato stood up and looked at Louise.

"Right, so you wanted to be flown around the academy?" He asked her. She got up and nodded. "Don't forget the kiss part." She said, putting on a sweet looking face. Hiato sighed and without warning swooped her off her feet and was holding her bridal style. "H-hiato! Give me a warning next time!" She said, her face going red. Hiato just gave her a look, and they both laughed. "Well its either this, I carry you by hugging you, or I turn into my dragon form and you ride on my back." Louise suddenly thought of something and looked at Hiato with a curious expression. "Could you show me your dragon form?"

Hiato raised an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked. Louise then looked annoyed. "So I can see what it looks like dummy!" Hiato just kept looking at her. "And?" He asked. Louise then frowned at him and without thinking said "Because I want to know what my amazing familiar looks like in his dragon form!" Once she realised what she had said, she slowly gained a blush and Hiato did as well, before he smiled. "Well when you put it like that, how can i refuse?" He put her down and took a few steps back. He then looked at Louise with a sly smile. "You know if I do this, then I don't have to fly you around the school..." He said with a twinkle in his eyes. Louise then pouted at him. "Could you please fly me around the school after you've shown me your dragon form?" She asked in the sweetest sounding voice she could manage. Hiato just looked at her, and looked away with a surrendered look on his face. "Fine..." he mumbled.

"Thanks Hiato!" Louise said, and then walked over and kissed him on the cheek. He just looked at her, and then smiled. "Ok, just a warning I've never done this before, so it might take a while." Louise nodded, and Hiato closed his eyes. His body slowly began to change, first his hands morphed into claws, then his wings sprouted from his back. Louise noticed that as Hiato was transforming, his clothes seemed to be disappearing at the same rate he was transforming, they seemed to be fading out of existence. Hiato's head was the next to transform, his entire face became more elongated, a gold horn sprouted from the middle of his forehead, his teeth became sharper, his ears turned to small wing like protrusions on the side of his head and his hair turned into a little tuff on the top of his head, but was now red. The rest of his body followed suite, he gained a tail, his legs became bigger, and his arms became his front legs. His whole body started to grow, and he gained spikes running down his back along his spine. He grew until he was about the same size of Sylphid, and when he opened his eyes to look at Louise, they almost seemed to be glowing.

Louise was in awe. Hiato's scales were beautiful, they were a light red on his legs, and his tail, but as you moved towards his head they got darker, but in a way that looked perfect. His wings were now massive, she was fairly certain they were bigger than Sylphids wings. Hiato seemed to raise an eyebrow at Louise, and he leaned down so his head was eye level with Louise. She was stunned by how he looked, she thought she would be ready to see what Hiato looked like, but she had been wrong. He looked more amazing than she could have ever imagined.

"_What's the matter? It looks like you've seen a dragon, oh wait, you have." _Hiato let out a small chuckle, and then Louise regained her composure. "I-its just, you look so..."

"_Amazing? Different? You know that I can see what your thinking right now, and make it easier for me and just talk in your mind, I'll be able to hear it." _Louise quickly considered what he had just said, and blushed. "Hey don't you dare start reading my mind!" she shouted at the dragon in front of her, which let out another chuckle.

"_Silly, I'm not going to read your mind, its not like there's anything interesting in here anyway."_ At this, Louise suddenly got _very_ angry. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!? ARE YOU SAYING I'M STUPID OR SOMETHING!?" She yelled at the dragon, who let out another chuckle, which annoyed Louise even more. "_It was a joke, and no, I'm not saying your stupid. The most I can do right now is see what you are thinking and feeling, I can't read your memory's or anything like that, and also I can communicate to you as well."_

Louise calmed down a little bit, but then eyed Hiato suspiciously. "How long have you been able to do this?" She asked.

"_About 2 minutes, only since I've entered dragon form, but the connections been there since the day you made me your familiar. Only now are we able to use it, and didn't I say talk in your mind? When I'm a dragon my understanding of people speaking Isn't the best you know." _Hiato answered. Louise dropped her gaze and then started walking around Hiato, looking at and poking a large amount of his body.

"_Stop that it tickles._" He said when she was scratching a spot near the end of his tail. She scratched it a bit more and he lifted his tail out of her reach. "_No means no." _He said, sounding annoyed. Louise giggled, and then hopped onto his back. She got to the spot just behind his head, between his 2 shoulder blades, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. He skin was warm to the touch, not too warm, just the prefect temperature. "_I think you look really cool like this, you should stay like this more often." _Louise said in her mind, still not sure how to communicate with Hiato.

_"Gee thanks." _She could feel his appreciation for the compliment, and his scales got a little warmer and brighter, when Louise laughed.

"_What's so funny?" _He demanded incredulously.

"_Your blushing!_" Louise responded.

"_And so what?"_

_"I thought dragon's couldn't blush."_

_"Well they can... HEY do you think dragons don't react the same way humans do to compliemnts!?"_

_"I never said that."_

_"yes you did."_

_"Did not."_

_"Did too"_

_"Did not"_

_"Did too"_

_"Did not"_

_"We should just drop this, otherwise were going to sit here all day bickering."_

_"Your right, but still I think you should be a dragon more often."_

_"Have you ever smelled a dragon's breath before?" _Louise shook her head. "_Trust me, it's not nice, especially after a meal."_

Louise raised an eyebrow. "_And why is this important?" _she asked.

"_Because I'm fairly certain you should be warned about that in case you try to kiss me." _Louise frowned. _"I don't see how that has to do with anything." _She heard him sigh. _"If I'm a dragon the whole time, then I'll never get to kiss you, unless you want me to knock you unconscious with my bad breath." _Louise rolled her eyes. _"I said sometimes you idiot, not all the time, now are you going to fly me around or not?" _She asked.

_"Sure, which form?" _Hiato asked. Louise got a little confused. _"What do you mean?" _she could feel Hiato mentally face palm. _"Dragon or human form, what do you think I was talking about, the weather?" _Louise slapped Hiato on the back of the head, but all it did was hurt her hand and cause Hiato to start laughing. "_Dragon scales are thick enough to withstand swords, I don't think a slap's going to do much better." _Hiato said after he stopped laughing. "Oh just turn back to your human form already, i swear you get more annoying in your dragon form." Hiato turned his head to look at her, and he grinned. _"Me? Annoying? Oh how could you ever think such a thing about me? I'm wounded." _Louise scoffed and climbed off his back, and watched him change back. It was certainly a lot faster than his transformation into a dragon. As he was done she immediately slapped him in the face.

"Ow, what was that for?" Hiato asked after he got up, rubbing his cheek.

"That was the slap that I gave you earlier but it didn't work." She said, looking at him. She then laughed and gave him a kiss where she had slapped him. Hiato's sour expression softened as she did. "Wait, so can we talk on that mental link right now?" Louise asked Hiato.

"Yeah we can, but we actually have to try to talk when I'm in human form, when I'm in dragon form it's easier because that's the only way I can talk to you, but in human form, since i can talk to you normally, the link is only open when one of us want it to be, otherwise we'd get a headache from hearing each others thoughts at the same time we're speaking." Hiato answered. "Anyway, let's get to that flight you asked me for." Hiato spread his wings, and picked Louise up bridal style, who wasn't surprised this time. He then flapped his wings and took off into the air.

The students of the academy were all scattered about in the courtyards, and all watched as Louise and Hiato flew over them. One in particular, Kirche Zerbst looked up and scoffed. _If she thinks she trying to make me jealous then she's got another thing coming, because Hiato's the kind of guy who would stay loyal to the one he loves, and to be honest, I actually feel bad for how I behaved around him. And also, I don't really like him any more, I mean he's nice, but i can tell Louise is the only person he could ever love, so I'd rather just be his friend, and besides, it was probably never meant to be anyway. So once their flight is over, I'm going to say sorry to them both for how I've behaved. _She then smiled, at least she'd be able to make Hiato stop hating her.

Up above the academy, Louise was in a state of bliss. Flying with Hiato was still the most amazing feeling ever, and the flying bit was pretty cool too. She looked at her familiar, who had a look of boyish joy on his face. Flying was something he loved, and she knew that it made him the happiest out of anything else he did. She then wondered how happy he felt when she was with him, but then he looked at her and the answer was given to her immediately.

When the 2 made eye contact, she could have sworn she saw his smile get bigger. Suddenly he let go of her legs, and before she could react his other arm was now around her waist, holding her close to him. They were now above the main tower, clinging to each other tightly. "Your right, well half right. I really do enjoy flying, but to be honest, it wouldn't be half as amazing if you weren't here." She leaned back to look into his eyes, and a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "And my life wouldn't be even half as amazing if you'd never shown up." Louise replied. Now it was Hiato's turn to blush. "Yeah, but then again you would probably have a much more peaceful life and..." Anything else he was about to say was cut off as Louise kissed him full on the lips, and Hiato just returned the kiss. They broke apart and looked at each other, smiling. Everyone was looking at them, and Kirche smiled. _Well this isn't helping my guilt, their the perfect couple. _

However, in another courtyard, someone else was having different thoughts. Sylphid looked at Hiato and Louise as they began their descent into one of the courtyards. She looked at her master Tabitha, who looked back at her. She knew what Sylphid was going to say before she said it. "Won't work. He cares too much. About her." Was all she said. Sylphid went into a little sulk. _So what? I'll try anyway. From what I've seen and heard, he's exactly what I want. But I won't be too upfront about it, I saw how THAT worked out. _Sylphid watched Hiato until he descended out of sight.

As Hiato and Louise landed, Kirche walked up to them. Hiato nudged Louise and winked at her, she just glared at Hiato in response. But before she could say anything, Kirche spoke. "Hiato, I am sorry." Hiato looked confused. "For what?" he asked. "For how I've been behaving around you, I know it wasn't right, and I'm really sorry. I don't like you any more, w-well I mean I just want to be friends, thats all!" She stammered out quickly. "I know you care a lot about Louise, and I'm really sorry about trying to get in the way of you 2, so can we just be friends, nothing more?" She asked. Hiato took a bit to digest what she had just said, and he grinned like a total idiot.

"Sure! No problem Kirche! And it's OK, I forgive you. Anyway..." Hiato nudged Louise forward. "Louise has something she would like to say to you, Kirche." Louise gave Hiato a look, and she took a deep breath. "Kirche..." Kirche was surprised, Louise NEVER referred to her by first name. "... I Would just like to say, I'm sorry for how I treated you in the past. I'm sorry for being so rude and brash, I was just being the spoiled brat I was raised to be. I would just like to ask, can we be friends?"

Kirche looked at Louise, then at Hiato, then at Louise. THIS had been the last thing she had been expecting to happen in her life. Louise, the girl she considered to be her nemesis, who Kirche had teased ruthlessly, was now asking to be her friend. Kirche then looked at Hiato, who was just smiling. _Just what kind of person is he? I don't think ANYONE could have ever convinced Louise to do what she is doing now, not even her mother, and yet... _Kirche looked at Louise. She couldn't understand why she would do it. Their families were ancient rivals, what could she gain out of this?

"If your wondering why I'm asking, its because something bad is going to happen soon, and me and Hiato are involved in it. We're going to need all the help we can get if we are going to get out of it alive. And also... I figured that if that happened, and I were to die, I would regret not knowing if we could ever have been friends." Louise looked like she'd had to force that last sentence out. Kirche could understand, she was doing something that essentially went against everything she'd probably been taught by her family. Louise looked worried, worried that Kirche would laugh in her face and say no.

(CUE THE INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC)

Kirche smiled. "Well Louise, I would also like to say sorry for the way I've treated you since we met." Louise suddenly perked up. "And I would like to say, Yes, I accept your apology, if you will accept mine, and I also accept your offer of friendship, If you accept mine. I will also help you in whatever trouble you find yourself in." Kirche held out her hand for Louise to shake. Louise took it, and they both shook firmly. "Friends." They both said, and then for the first time in their lives, they smiled at each other.

"Well that's step one." Hiato said. Louise and Kirche looked at him. "Step one?" They both asked him. "Of your 2 families reconciling and getting along again." They just looked at him. "What did you think just you 2 being friends was enough? And yes I know it's going to be hard, but right now, we can't afford to hold petty grudges. What me and Louise are involved in is very dangerous, and as Louise said, we're going to need all the help we can get if we want to survive. And besides, holding grudges doesn't help anyone. Hate breeds more hate, and I know what too much hate can do to a person." Hiato looked serious.

"So how are we supposed to do that?" Louise asked. Hiato smiled. "Simple. You 2 just be friends, I know it might be hard at first but hey, I got used to Louise, I'm sure anyone can." Louise narrows her eyes at him, before giggling. "I Suppose that's true,but not everyone has the patience you have Hiato."

"I'm sure Kirche can survive, right?" Hiato asked her. Kirche smiled and nodded. "Sure I can, it'll be easy, and I'm sure we'll make great friends." She said this sincerely, and Louise looked at her to see if she was joking, but Kirche just looked at her. "Louise, I'm being serious. I think we can be good friends, just as long as we both can overlook what's happened in the past." Louise nodded, and then let go of Kirche's hand. "Well that settles it, see it wasn't so hard Louise."

"Easy for you to say, you weren't the one doing it."

"Fair point, anyway I'm starving, I'll be heading off to the kitchen, I'll catch up with you later Louise." Hiato gave Louise a light kiss on the lips before sprinting in the direction of the Kitchen.

"He's just obsessed with eating isn't he?" Louise asked Kirche, who chuckled.

"Well that's not so bad, as long as your not the one feeding him." At this they both laughed. Louise then looked seriously at Kirche. "I know it's going to take me a while, and you too, for us to get over our old habits, but if we just keep at it, then I'm sure it will work out." Kirche raised an eyebrow. "You really are committed to this, aren't you?" she asked. Louise nodded.

"Is it because of Hiato?" She asked. Louise went a little red. "well..." Kirche laughed. Not her usual mocking laugh but a hearty laugh, which Louise first scowled at, but then laughed as well. "It's just he's... amazing. I mean, I sometimes I forget he's my familiar, and other time's I wonder how I could have ever summoned such an amazing familiar." Kirche looks at Louise, and smiles. "He's the number one proof your not a zero, so take pride in that. Also I'll do you a favour, and see if I can get everyone to stop calling you Louise the zero." Louise looked a little confused at first, but then smiled. "Thanks... Kirche." It really sounded weird for her to say that.

After chatting for another few minutes, the 2 of them walked to their rooms. "I'll help with your training tomorrow after school. I'm sure Hiato will be fine with it." Louise nodded. "Thanks... Zerbst." She said, still struggling to say those words to her. Kirche laughed. "You called me Zerbst again, valliere, I thought you were supposed to stop that." She said teasingly. "Well I'm so _very sorry _Kirche, can you _ever _forgive me?" Louise replied in the most sarcastic voice she could manage. Kirche actually looked surprised Louise could be sarcastic, and she laughed. "Yes I can Louise." Kirche responded. "Goodnight." The 2 girls said to each other, and Louise proceeded upstairs to her room.

When she got inside, Hiato was already asleep on the bed. _He must've eaten too much, or he's really tired from today's training. _As she thought of it, she suddenly also was very tired. After a quick change, she climbed into bed and snuggled up against Hiato. She had done 2 significant things today, One she had managed to finally gain control of her magic, well... rather she was capable of making _specific _things blow up, not everything she pointed her wand at. Secondly, she had made friends with her mortal enemy Kirche, and surprisingly gotten on well with her. It turns out she isn't so bad once you get to know her. Louise knew it would be hard to become good friends, but so far it seemed to be working.

She then looked up at Hiato's face. The little stunt she had asked him to do had originally been aimed at Kirche to try and antagonise her, but now that she was resigned to the fact that Hiato belonged to Louise was disappointing because it meant she wouldn't get to see her archne- I mean friend, hurl herself at Hiato and get rejected, which Louise would delight in, but on the other hand, it meant that Louise now didn't have to worry about other people trying to get Hiato's attention.

As she fell asleep with a smile on her face, she had no idea how wrong she was.

* * *

**And that's that! In case your wondering, I've read a few Fan fics of FOZ and seen how Kirche is often seen as someone who just want's sex, and also often falls for the main lead and often gets bashed on alot, so I've decided she needs a break from that, and I'll make her into a likeable character (somehow) and the whole friendship with Louse thing? Hey I said I'd be diverging from the main plot line, and I figured I might as well make those 2 friends. Anyway, thanks for reading, please do review, I hope you all enjoyed and I will see YOU, in the next chapter, bye bye!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello and welcome to chapter 12! Thanks to all those who have read and reviewed this, once more it means alot to me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave a review saying what you think, I read them all and accept any ideas that seem like they would fit into the story. Also one other thing, this version of the world of FOZ is different in quite a few ways, one of them being the whole rebellion in Albion, which you'll learn more about later in the story. Now on to chapter 12!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero.**

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For the next few days, Louise and Hiato did a lot of hard training, and Kirche, Tabitha and even Guiche joined them. The friendship between Louise and Kirche was still a little rocky, but they were making an effort to get it to work. The reason Guiche had joined them was because losing to Hiato had crushed his pride, and after hearing what Hiato had done to help capture Fouquet, he felt bad about everything that had happened, and had apologized to Hiato, who simply waved him off saying it wasn't that big of an issue, but if he was _really _sorry then he could train with him, Louise, Kirche and Tabitha. While he was still mostly a snob, he was showing signs of being less of a twit.

The training had been going well. Louise was now very good with her explosion spell, Hiato had increased his speed and strength, his swordsmanship, and his dragon powers. Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche had all improved in their various magic's, Kirche was learning some more high level spells, Tabitha was refining her current array of spells and Guiche was learning how to fight tactically with his Valkyries. All in all, it was going well, and although they knew that there was a great danger coming, they were all happy.

The princess had spent the last couple of days at the academy, mostly talking to Osmond regarding how many mage's would be available to help if Albion were to declare war on Tristain and invade. Osmond was now much more weary of Hiato, as he had once walked past the area where Hiato and the others were training, and by _pure accident _he got hit with a stray fireball from Hiato, which singed even more of his beard. He looks more like someone who's been in a house fire than someone who's the head of a respected and well known academy of magic. Of course Hiato apologized at once, but Osmond knew he had done it on purpose, one does not simply _accidentally _lose control of ones fireballs, so Osmond was plotting his revenge when he wasn't thinking of the more serious matters going on.

It was early in the morning on the last day that the princess would be at the academy. She would be going back to Tristain's capital, and continue working on the alliances she was trying to make with the surrounding countries to gain support against Albion, but before she left, she had a mission she needed to give to Louise and Hiato, so she was waiting to give the mission to them before she left. She was absolutely sure they would be able to complete it. The princess had gotten up early this morning to go and speak with Osmond.

Louise at the moment was currently asleep. Hiato was already up and had gone to eat his breakfast as well as the laundry that Siesta so kindly did for him every day. He retrieved the laundry after he had eaten breakfast, and flew up to Louise's room. As he flew in through the window and landed, he smiled at how cute Louise looked while asleep. Walking to the table, he put the laundry down and then walked over to the bed and sat down on it next to Louise's head. He just sat there for a moment, looking at Louise's sleeping face, and then he leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Louise slowly started to wake up, and the first thing she felt was something being gently pressed against her lips. When she opened her eyes, she saw it was Hiato kissing her, and her eyes expanded a little and she blushed, but then closed her eyes and kissed Hiato back. After a while, Hiato broke the kiss and smiled at her.

"Good morning. How'd you sleep?" he asked her.

"Good." Louise replied smiling back. "And you?" She asked.

"Good. I have to say, it's nice having a snuggle buddy you know, and your just the perfect size." He replied, with a small grin on his face.

Louise smiled at him and then laughed. "Well I'm glad you appreciate it. Your not that bad either, although the only reason I let you sleep on my bed is because you keep me warm at night." She said with a small smirk. Hiato laughed.

"Well I'm glad you appreciate the fact I'm a living heater. What's next you going to start hiring me out to people?" He asked in a joking tone.

Louise shook her head, and gave him a serious look. "Your my snuggle dragon and no-one else's!" She said in a dead serious tone, and Hiato raised an eyebrow.

"Snuggle dragon? That sounds ridiculous." He said with an equally serious tone. The 2 of them stared at each other before they started laughing. "OK I lie, I like it." he said, and then gave Louise a hug.

"But seriously, I'm not sharing you." Louise said. Hiato smiled. "I know, and the same goes with you." They broke the hug and looked each other in the eyes for a bit, and were about to kiss, when Louise's stomach did a very good impression of a wale's mating call. The girl to whom this stomach belonged went bright red, and even brighter when Hiato started laughing.

"Stop laughing!" She said to him. He did stop and just looked at her, and then she started laughing as well.

"I guess that mean's we should get you breakfast soon. I really don't find girls who make those kinds of noises attractive you know." He said jokingly as Louise was getting changed. She just glared at him, but the glare was wasted as his back was to her. After she was done, she walked over to Hiato who was standing by the window.

"So what will it be today?" He asked. Louise put a finger to her chin and put on a thoughtful expression. "Hmm, the usual." She said, smiling at him. Promptly he picked her up bridal style... and then jumped out the window. Without his wings folded out.

Any sane, rational person would immediately panic if the person holding them just jumped out a window, while still carrying them. But Louise didn't. She knew that Hiato liked to do this, and he always spread his wings at the right time to get the most momentum from the dive. She was a little bit scared, but that was natural, because while she knew that Hiato knew what he was doing, there was still the faint possibility that he would screw up and find himself discovering the wondrous effects of gravity and physics on high speed objects plummeting towards the ground.

As it seemed like they would hit the ground, Hiato unfurled his wings and gave a powerful flap, correcting their course and sending them high into the air. Louise loved flying with Hiato, and she wished there was a way she could fly like him. She could do it with magic, but she knew that it would never be the same as using her wings. She sighed, knowing she would never experience what it's like to fly with your own pair of wings.

After a quick bit of flying, Hiato landed at the food hall and the 2 of them went inside. Louise promptly devoured her breakfast, but in a very ladylike way of course. Not like Hiato who just shoves about 5 plates of food into his mouth at once (sound like anyone else you may know?) and manages to avoid chocking by some miracle. Afterwards, the two of them went outside and sat under a tree. It was a void day, and they had decided today was going to be a rest day.

Hiato was lying down on the ground with Louise lying on top of him with her head rested against his chest, and Hiato was just playing with the pinkettes hair. Louise's eyes were closed and Hiato's were open, and they were also holding hands. No talk was necessary, they were simply enjoying this time together. After a while, one of the servants walked over to where the 2 were relaxing.

"Um excuse me, but are you Louise valliere and Hiato Higurashi?" She asked. Hiato looked at her and Louise's eyes opened and she rolled off Hiato to look at her.

"We are." Louise responded.

"Good, the princess wishes to see you in the headmaster's office." She said respectfully and smiled. Hiato grunted and got up, helping Louise at the same time. "Well we better not keep her waiting." he said. _I hope to whatever gods are in this world it isn't about that fireball i threw at Osmond the other day, but if it is, she's a bit slow. _"Do you need me to lead you there?" the servant asked.

"No thank you, we already know the way." Hiato said with a smile. Taking Louise's hand, they walked to the office. "Do you think its about the fireball you threw at him?" Louise asked him.

"I did _not _throw it at him. I simply lost control while he was walking past and it just _happened _to hit him." Hiato said with an innocent look on his face. "Don't you trust me?" He asked her.

Louise just looked at him and then laughed. "Yes I do, I'm just making sure you had a valid excuse for what you did."

Hiato looked as though he had just been mortally insulted. "_Excuse? _You think what I said was an _excuse?" _He asked. Louise raised an eyebrow at him, and just laughed. Hiato still had the insulted look on his face before he laughed as well.

They got to Osmond's office and walked inside. As they entered the room, Osmond shot Hiato a deathly glare, which he returned with an equally deathly glare. The two of them glared at each other as Hiato walked over to his desk, and when the princess cleared her throat, rather loudly I might say, they broke eye contact and smiled at her. The princess rolled her eyes and then looked at Louise and Hiato.

"Today is my last day here. I'm leaving this afternoon for the capital, I'm needed there to oversee certain matters concerning our defence."

"So you really think the rebels in Albion are going to invade?" Louise asked.

The princess nodded. "Not just the rebels, I'm also putting measures in place to handle this 'dragon slayer guild'."

Hiato nodded in approval at this. "Your a good ruler Princess, from what I can tell. You truly care about your people, and don't do kind things for publicity, you do them because you want to help people."

Henrietta was taken aback slightly by Hiato's words, and blushed a little. "W-why thank you." She said. "I never knew you were such a good judge of character."

Hiato shrugged. "I've learned to be very observant. Gave me something to do when i was bored back in my world." _Or rather something I needed in order to survive when I was on the run. Saved my life more times than I can count._

"Why did you want to see us princess?" Louise asked. "Unless you merely wanted to ensure you could say goodbye."

Henrietta smiled. "That is part of it, but I have a mission for you. It's a dangerous one, but I'm sure you can manage."

"What is the mission?" Louise asked. "If it is for the princess, I will gladly undertake it without hesitation."

_Jeez I can understand loyalty but i get the feeling Louise can be a little extreme sometimes. _Hiato said to himself. _But I'm sure it can't be that bad what the princess wants us to do. _

"I Need you to go to Albion and save prince Wales. He has certain information that if it were to fall into the hands of the rebels, would undermine my efforts to create any alliances with surrounding countries."

_OK I take that back, this is worse than I expected. _Hiato looked at Osmond, who looked back, and sparks appeared in the air between them. "Hey halfy." Hiato muttered just loud enough for Osmond to hear. "Dragon boy." Osmond replied. The two just kept glaring at each other, and of course, Louise and Henrietta were unaware of what was going on.

Louise looked at the princess. "Henrietta isn't this just a _little _bit dangerous for just me and Hiato?" She asked. The princess was surprised at Louise's sudden drop of formality, but quickly recovered. _I guess her familiar really is having a big effect on her. _"It is, but you won't be alone. You can take anyone with you that you want. I understand that the mission is dangerous, but the fate of Tristain hangs on this, so can you please accept it?"

Louise looked at Henrietta seriously, unaware of the brewing storm behind her. "I will, If its for the princess, I cannot refuse."

Henrietta breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Louise, I recommend you leave today. Headmaster Osmond has managed to arrange leave for you, Guiche, Tabitha and Kirche for the next few days. Also take this." She said, walking over to Louise and handing her a ring. "This ring will help you convince Wales you are not an enemy."

Louise took the ring and put it on, and then nodded. "Thank you princess, Me and Hiato won't let you down."

Suddenly there was a yelp of pain, and Louise and Henrietta turned to see the remaining half of Osmond's beard had caught fire. Instead of panicking like last time, Osmond quickly put out the flames and glared at Hiato, who was smirking. "Nice one, at least you managed to save it before you were turned into Osmond-no-beard or Osmond black beard." Osmond was about to give a retort when Henrietta and Louise cleared their throats rather loudly.

"Gentlemen, you can continue this at a later time, and preferably when we aren't in the vicinity." The princess said.

"Of course Princess. Ill be happy to continue this later halfy." Hiato said. "Like wise dragon boy, I'm looking forward to it."

Louise and Henrietta just rolled their eyes and said in exasperated tones "_Men!_".

* * *

About an hour later, Hiato, Louise, Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche were at the west gate getting ready to leave. Hiato had Derf strapped to his back. He had grown very fond of the talking sword and also very good with him. As they were getting ready to leave they noticed something approaching on the horizon, and everyone except for Hiato gasped.

"A griffon!" Kirche said. Indeed it was. It looked like a bird, except it had 4 legs and it's wings were on its back. It was majestic, but Hiato wasn't impressed, and he frowned. He didn't like the griffon, and he could tell he would not like whoever was riding it, and oh boy did he not. As it landed, its rider jumped off its back, and then walked over to Louise. He had an air of arrogance that made Guiche look modest. "Louise, my Fiancé, it has been a while hasn't it?" Jean-Jacques Francis, Viscount of Wardes and commander of Tristain's griffon knight's said. Hiato's eyes went wide from shock. Louise went red. "H-hello Viscount." She said nervously, and looked at Hiato.

"My my Louise, please call me Wardes, or even better, Jean." He said, lifting Louise's chin to look into her face. He smiled. "You've become so beautiful, I truly am blessed to have such a wonderful Fiancé." He let go of her chin and looked over the rest of the group, taking note of each of them, and he raised an eyebrow when he saw Hiato.

"Louise, who is this commoner? I recognize all your other friends as members of the academy, but who is this? Some servant?" Hiato's anger started to flare up. He was struggling to restrain himself. "H-he's my familiar." Louise said. Wardes's eyes expanded a little, and then he smiled. "Ah, I had heard you had summoned a commoner. Most interesting, summoning a human is extremely rare, just a testament to your amazing abilities my dear." He said, laying a hand on her cheek. Suddenly a hand grabbed his forearm and yanked it away from Louise.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Her." Hiato said threateningly. Wardes's looked at him before pulling his arm free of Hiato's grasp. "She is my Fiancé, _familiar. _I believe I have the right to touch her, whereas i believe you don't, since your not better than a dog." This made Hiato's anger flare up even more. Seeing the danger in the Situation, Louise stepped in.

"Please forgive him Wardes's, he is very protective of me. But why are you here?" she asked, grabbing Hiato's arm. "_Please calm down Hiato, I can understand how you feel." _Louise said in her mind, hoping Hiato would hear it.

_"Why didn't you tell me you had a Fiancé sooner!?" _Hiato yelled at her in his mind.

_"I-I didn't think it was important, and I never thought I would actually marry him." _She just heard Hiato scoff. _"Whatever, but if he tries to do anything else to you I'm turning him into roast chicken." _And he cut the link.

"I am here to help you on your mission to Albion to save the prince, by command of the princess of course, but I would have come even had she not ordered me, I could never let you go into danger unprotected, my dear Louise." He said, smiling.

"Thank you, but I'm sure I'll be fine with just my friends and familiar." Louise said, smiling, but still nervous. She knew Hiato was angry, not just at Wardes but at her for not telling him about Wardes. Wardes shook his head.

"No my dear, while I'm sure they are competent in battle, the dragon boy especially, I can guarantee much better security than they can." THAT got Hiato's attention. _Dragon boy!? How the hell does he know what I am!? Didn't Henrietta say that the only people who knew were a few people at the academy and the... _His eyes went wide, but then he frowned, and suspicion began to fill his mind.

"Well then I thank you for you assistance Viscount." Louise said, confused at what he had just said about the 'dragon boy'. Wardes smiled. "Now come dear, you will ride with me. It has been a long time since we last talked and we need to catch up." Louise went a little red and suddenly was very nervous, and threw a glance at Hiato, and then swallowed. "I'm sorry, but I've never flown before, and heights make me sick." She lied. Wardes frowned at this, but then smiled. "What a shame, I guess we will have to catch up at a later date then." He said, before climbing onto his Griffon. "I will lead the way, follow me." he said, and his griffon took off.

Louise let out a breath and turned to Hiato. "Hiato..." she said. He looked at her, his pain obvious on his face. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked again.

"I-Its B-Because..." She started. She knew what her real reason was for not telling him, and she wanted to say it to him, but the words just wouldn't come to her. She needed to tell him, but she couldn't say anything. "I-I..." Hiato was still looking at her, and then looked away. "Whatever, we can talk about it later. Right now we should get moving." He said in a flat voice. He walked over to his horse, climbed on, and moved it out a ways onto the road. Louise swallowed. She needed to tell Hiato how she felt, but no matter how hard she tried, the words just refused to come out. She looked at the others, who looked at her gravely and nodded. Kirche came over to speak to her, everyone else was already mounted, except for Tabitha who was on Sylphid and they started riding.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"Hiato's angry with me because I never told him Wardes is my Fiancé. Now I'm worried he'll never forgive me. I want to tell him why I never told him but..." She faltered. Kirche smiled.

"You're afraid to? Don't worry, I'm sure he can forgive you, I'm sure he's just shocked is all, and I think I know why." Louise looked at her with a questioning look.

"It's simple really, it's because he loves you." Louise went red at this. "L-love?" She said. Kirche nodded. "He's probably hurt because he trusts you completely, and the fact you kept a secret from him has probably hurt him a lot."

"S-So what should I do?" Louise asked. Louise was a little afraid Kirche would laugh in her face, but her fears were pointless as Kirche said "Tell him the truth. If you do, I'm sure he will forgive you, and also apologize and promise him you won't ever keep any more secrets from him."

Louise looked at Kirche. "Since when are you an expert on stuff like this?" She asked.

"I'm not, I just know that telling the other person how you feel is how you get things to work out. Better tell him soon. Otherwise he'll just get more and more hurt." Louise nodded. "I'll do it when we stop at Camaar." Kirche nodded and smiled.

"Also thanks Kirche." Louise said with a smile.

"Any time Louise." Kirche responded. Overhead, Wardes noticed that Hiato was out at the front away from Louise and he smiled. _Good. The further away that monster is from my dear Louise the better. _He smirked, and spurred his Griffon to fly towards the horizon, and he thought to himself.

_Soon, Louise will be mine, and mine alone._

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**And that's the chapter! Sorry if it feels like I'm ending it abruptly, but the next chapter is going to cover quite a bit of story, so I'm warming up to that one. Anyway, in case your wondering, I've forgotten the name of the town they went to in the original story, so I've given it a new name. If anyone knows its name I'll be happy to just change it back quickly, but I'll stick to mine for now. Also the reason Hiato isn't flying is because he doesn't want to show Wardes his wings, and he is still extremely suspicious as to why Wardes knows who he is. Anyway, Thanks for reading, please leave a review and I will see you, in the next chapter, buh bye!**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm back! Sorry again for the lack of chapters, but I'm back on schedule and once holidays start, which is on Friday, I'm going to be sitting down and writing LOTS of chapters for you guys, about 3-4 a week. I figured this would be the best way to make up for the period of no writing. Thanks again for all the reviews, the follows and the favourites. Anyway, let's get on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

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After several hours of riding they had arrived at La Rochelle (I learned the places real name, so sorry for the wrong name I gave it in the last chapter). Louise, Guiche and Kirche were all tired from the long ride, whereas Tabitha and Wardes weren't since they had been flying, and were looking forward to getting off their horses and getting some rest. Evening was approaching fast as the sun was now hanging low in the sky, just about to kiss the horizon.

Wardes led them through the streets to an Inn, which didn't exactly look like a top quality Inn, but also didn't look like some shanty hole in the ground. As they reached the Inn, who was going to be sharing a room with who became the most pressing concern.

"As she is my Fiancé, I will be sharing a room with Louise." Wardes declared in the lobby of the Inn as they were reserving rooms. To say Louise didn't like the idea of sharing a room with Wardes was an understatement. "Actually Viscount, I would prefer to share with my familiar…" she said, looking at Wardes. She glanced over at Hiato, who hadn't seemed to have registered what she had just said.

"I understand that you'd want to keep your familiar close, but I assure you that I can provide adequate protection. Also since we are going to be married, we will need to spend as much time as possible getting to know each other." Wardes said with a smile. He then turned back to the women behind the counter. "We will also need a room for the two girls, and one for the boy and the familiar. But don't feel a need to get a room with two beds, rather get one with a bed and enough room for some straw on the floor." Louise looked sharply at Wardes.

"Excuse me Viscount, but why only one bed?" She asked. Wardes looked back at her. "He is a mere commoner, and even lower than that, a familiar. He does not deserve a proper bed as us nobles do." He looked back at the lady behind the counter and Louise felt a mixture of anger and annoyance, but before she could say anything, Guiche spoke up.

"Great Viscount, I do not believe that would be appropriate." Louise, Kirche, Wardes and even Tabitha all turned to look at Guiche, surprise on all their faces. "And why is that?" Wardes asked.

"Because Hiato is a good friend to me, and I see him as an equal, not as a mere familiar. He should receive the same treatment that I do." Guiche said, with a convinced look in his eyes and a serious face. Everyone stared at him, even Hiato. _Either Guiche is going through some kind of personality reform or someone hit him on the head with a large object while we weren't looking _Louise said to herself.

Wardes raised an eybrow. "So if receiving the same treatment as him meant sleeping on straw, would you still push for fair treatment?" he asked. Guiche nodded. "Indeed I would, but he and I WILL be sleeping on proper beds… Viscount." Guiche added, with what almost sounded to Louise like disgust.

Wardes chuckled. "Very well then, please secure a room with 2 beds, dear madam." He said to the women behind the counter. After they had paid for their rooms, Wardes looked at them all.

"Shall we dine? I am most hungry, as are all of you, I'm sure."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Wardes led the way into the dining area of the Inn.

They sat down and ordered food, and ate in relative silence. Hiato ate normally, which was completely unlike him. Towards the end of their meal however, Wardes spoke directly to Hiato for the first time since they got there.

"So tell me, Dragon boy, how competent do you think you are with a sword?" he asked. Hiato stopped eating and looked at Wardes. "Good enough, why?" He said in a tone that suggested he wanted to do anything except talk to Wardes. "Well I would like to know if you would be interested in a duel." Louise stopped eating and looked at Hiato, worry on her face. Even though Hiato might not be as skilled with a sword as Wardes was, and while his dragon powers were impressive, Wardes was a Square wind mage, meaning he was very powerful. If the 2 were to duel, Louise wasn't sure who would end up winning.

"No, I'm not interested in a duel with you. Also, why do you call me 'Dragon boy'?" Hiato said dangerously. Wardes simply smirked. "I was informed of your abilities as a familiar before being sent out on my mission, and I must say they interest me hugely. A human able to use dragon powers? Unheard of." He said. Hiato narrowed his eyes at Wardes. "And I am most interested to see what it would be like to fight someone with your abilities, in a friendly spare, of course." Hiato's eyes narrowed even further. "Still not interested." He said. Wardes sighed and simply went back to eating.

Once the meal was complete, Wardes stood up and looked at Louise. "My dear, it is time to retire to our quarters." He said, holding a hand out to her. She looked at Hiato, only to see he was already out his chair and gone up the stairs to the rooms. Louise looked at Wardes and simply walked past him and up the stairs, not taking his hand.

"That was rather rude, my dea-" Wardes started.

"Don't call me "Dear" or "love" please Viscount." She said in an even tone. "We aren't even married." _And never will be _she said to herself.

"But my dea-" Louise looked at him "Louise, we practically are already, since there is nothing that is going to change the fact. And while your little act is amusing, pretending to be refuting me, deep down you know you love me." Wardes said, walking across their room to her. "Ever since you were little, I've known how you feel about me, and don't try to lie about it now…" He raised a hand to place on her check, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him, surprising him.

"No." she said. "I'm sorry Viscount, but I don't think I feel the same way about you that you do about me." Louise looked him in the eyes. "And why do you look down on Hiato so much?" She asked. Wardes wrenched himself free of Louise's grasp and chuckled. "Because he is a familiar that is why. He is a servant, not a man. And also…" He grabbed Louise's face and brought it closer to his. "… someone who is not of noble birth should not be treated as an equal. You know this Louise, yet he is using some trick to make you think you care about him and see him as more than just the dog he is."

Suddenly Louise heard laughter in her mind, and at first she didn't recognize it. It was a loud, deep hearty laugh echoing from somewhere in the corner of her mind, and when it spoke she immediately recognized who it was, not by name but by voice, as he had spoken to her before in a dream.

"_He is not of noble birth? How wrong you are, little man." _Was all the voice said before it continued laughing. Louise shook free of Wardes grip. "You're wrong Wardes." She said. "Hiato deserves to be treated as an equal. He has been through things that no one should ever go through. I do not love you, nor do I wish to marry you. Now if you will excuse me, I should go." And without giving Wardes a chance to answer, she turned around, walked out the room and slammed the door. She let out an explosive breath. She had just rejected Wardes, something she knew she would get into trouble for with her mother, but right now she had more pressing concerns.

Like the person laughing their arse off in her head.

"_Would you shut it?" _She yelled into her mind. After a few seconds the laughter stopped. _"Sorry, just I just happened to be listening in at that moment and I found what he said probably the funniest thing I've ever heard." _The voice in her head replied.

"_Why?" _she asked.

"_Can't tell you that. Sorry it's a secret slash surprise that I'm keeping. You'll know one day."_ Louise frowned. _"Why is it a secret?" _she asked.

"_Because it is. If I told you why it was a secret, it wouldn't really be a secret now would it?"_ The voice said dryly. Louise rolled her eyes _"Are you that… thing I saw in my dream that one time?" _She asked.

"_Yes I am. This conversation ends here; I've talked for long enough." _ And just like that, the presence of whatever it was disappeared. _Rude_ she thought to herself.

"_I heard that!" _ The voice quickly said, and disappeared before Louise could respond.

She shook her head _Ok, now that I've rejected Wardes; I need to tell Hiato the truth… and how I feel. _She walked down the corridor to the room that she knew Guiche and Hiato were sharing, and simply barged in without knocking.

She realised once she got into the room that if either of them were changing she would be scared for life. Thankfully that was avoided as Guiche was collapsed on his bed (In a rather flamboyant way somehow) and Hiato was absent from the room. Guiche shot up once Louise charged in, confusion on his face.

"Louise!?" He asked. "Why are you in hear?"

"I'm looking for Hiato, where is he?" She said quickly.

Guiches expression changed to one of understanding. "He's on the roof, last time I checked. Go down the corridor and at the end is a staircase that should take you to the roof." Louise nodded her thanks, turned and practically sprinted down the corridor and onto the roof.

The sun was now barely peeking over the horizon, and was slowly disappearing. As Guiche had predicted, Hiato was sitting on the roof. He was looking at the horizon, but turned to see Louise exit onto the roof, and he was a little surprised.

"Louise?" He said. "Is something wrong?"

Louise shook her head and got back her breath. She looked at Hiato, the pain he was feeling still evident on his face. She decided she would start.

"I'm sorry." She said. Hiato just simply looked at her. "I'm sorry I never told you, I really am."

Hiato just turned to look at the sunset. "Why?" He asked. "Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was now full of pain and sadness, and Louise felt her voice catch in her throat.

"Because I… I…" She stammered.

"You couldn't bear to tell me? You knew it would break my heart so you didn't tell me and thought the problem would go away? Or don't you really care?" That question hit Louise like a punch to the gut. "N-no its because…"

"It's because?" Hiato asked his voice cracking. Louise was trying to say something; anything but she couldn't no matter how hard she tried. The words just wouldn't come to her. "I… I…" "You forgot?" He asked. He wasn't angry, he was sad, Louise could feel it. Hiato had trusted her whole heartedly, and she had kept a secret from him, and it wasn't a small one. But the reason she had never told him was because she had forgotten… forgotten she was going to marry Wardes because…

"So you just forgot? I guess that makes sense-"He was cut off when Louise yelled out words straight from her heart that completely caught Hiato off guard.

"It's because I want to marry you Hiato!" She yelled. "I forgot about Wardes because he isn't the person I want to marry. I thought that I would be able to marry you before I would be forced by my family into marrying Wardes. And the reason for all this is because…" Louise couldn't stop what she was saying now, and tears were streaming down her face. "… I love you Hiato!" She had finally said it. She had fully admitted how she felt about Hiato, and now she started to worry about his reaction to what she thought was a silly outburst.

Hiato was dumbstruck by what Louise had just said. _She never told me because she wanted to marry me… instead of wards… and she forgot because about Wardes because she… she…_

"I'm sorry." She said, snapping Hiato out of his thoughts. "I really shouldn't have said stuff like that; I shouldn't have shouted and made up excuses for myself. I forgot, plain and simple." Louise said in a low tone. She started to turn towards the exit from the roof. "Let's just forget this happened, after all we have more important-" Hiato cut her off by dashing across the roof, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her deeply on the lips.

Louise's brain took a second to figure out what happened, but when she did, she went bright red, and squired a little before giving in and kissing Hiato back. When they broke apart, Hiato had a serious look on his face, which made Louise flinch.

"Louise Valliere." He said in a low tone. "Never, ever suggest there is something more important in this world than you, keep anymore secrets, or that we forget what you just said. Are we clear?" He had a very serious look on his face, and Louise nodded quickly. Hiato then grinned like he always does. "Good, and by the way; you beat me."

Louise blinked. "Beat you?" she asked confused.

"To saying 'I love you'." Hiato smiled. "I love you Louise." He said. Louise stared at him before suddenly going an even brighter shade of red and feeling like there were butterfly's in her stomach and her heart speeding up. Before she could say anything, Hiato kissed her again, and this time she immediately kissed back. They stayed locked together for who knows how long until they split apart, both bright red and smiling.

"Well glad that that's over." Hiato said, taking Louise's hand. Louise smiled and nodded in agreement. "Wait, what about _him?_" He asked. Louise looked at him for a second before realizing what he meant, and started to twirl her pink hair around her one finger and assumed an innocent expression.

"Well I did basically reject him by saying I'm not going to marry him, and I walked out the room before he could answer." She said, her expression still the same. "I'm guessing he will be _very _angry at me, and will _not _find my actions amusing." She looked at Hiato who was on the verge of bursting out with laughter. He patted her on the head.

"You're incredible, you know that?" He said. The compliment made Louise blush a little, and she smiled. "Well maybe a little bit…" She looked at Hiato, and they both laughed. She then assumed a trouble expression. "Where am I going to sleep tonight… Hmmm I don't think the Viscount will forgive me for what I did earlier so where can I sleep…"

"If it's not too much trouble, you could have my bed; I don't mind sleeping on the floor." Hiato said as they walked down the corridor to their rooms.

"Will Guiche be OK with it?" She asked.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Suddenly Hiato remembered something. "Did you use your explosion spell on him or something while I wasn't looking?" He asked.

Louise shook her head. "I have no idea why he's acting like that, but to be honest, I don't mind." Louise said

"Agreed." Hiato said. They entered the room and Guiche was still on the bed, but sitting up this time. He looked a little confused when they both walked in.

"Louise is sleeping here tonight. She made Wardes a little angry so we think it's best for her to sleep… Guiche what is wrong?"

Guiche seemed to be having a small panic attack. "It's just not proper! Men and women sleeping in the same room, that only happens with people who are married!"

Louise and Hiato exchanged amused looks "Well don't worry, it's just one night, and it's not like she gonna be in your bed anyway. She'll be sleeping on mine; I'll be on the floor." Guiche seemed to relax at that, but Hiato then smirked. "If you REALLY don't want to stay with us, I'm sure Wardes will be happy to share his room with you."

Guiche shook his head. "I think I can handle one night of sharing a room with a girl." At that moment the door opened and Wardes stepped in.

"We will be leaving at first light tomorrow, so get ready." He looked at Hiato and Louise, but said nothing and shut the door. Hiato chuckled. "He isn't happy." Hiato walked over to the side of the bed, which was a single one, but still fairly big. He sighed. "Well I've slept on the floor before."

"No." Louise said who had walked up next to him. Hiato raised an eyebrow and she looked at him. "We are sharing, just like always." She said with a smile. "I need something to keep me warm, the blankets don't look very good."

"So am I just a walking heater now?" Hiato asked dryly. Louise smiled at him and nodded. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's get to sleep, I'm tired."

And with that, Hiato collapsed on the bed.

_*The next day, early morning*_

The morning had been largely uneventful. Get up, have breakfast, glare at Wardes, the usual stuff. When Kirche and Tabitha saw how Hiato and Louise were now sitting next to each other at breakfast and Hiato was back to his usual eating method of shoving food down his throat like it might all disappear at any moment. Also Louise had talked to Hiato about her marriage which she knew that, even though she had rejected Wardes, she was still his Fiancé. When asked what he planned to do about it however, Hiato simply said "Trust me, I have a plan." That had made Louise feel a bit easier, but she would have felt better had he told her his plan.

They boarded the ship at first light and set out. Louise found the ship quite interesting while Hiato found it boring how 'slowly' they were going, and he kept hoping something exciting would happen. Unfortunately (for everyone else) his wish was granted as a pirate airship pulled up next to them, demanding their surrender.

"This is all your fault." Louise said to Hiato. "Why?" he asked. "Because you kept wishing something exciting would happen and now it did, and now were going to be boarded by Pirates and they'll do who knows what to us."

"Oh come on Missy are ya scared of a few pirates? Yer a bleedin void mage!" Derf said over Hiato's shoulder. "Plus I'm here, and I promise to protect you from any danger." Hiato said in a happy tone, but Louise knew he was dead serious about it. Tabitha, Kirche, Guiche and Wardes were all out on deck as well.

"Surrender now and hand over all yer cargo!" One of the Pirates yelled. Hiato walked to the edge of the deck with Louise, Kirche and Tabitha.

"No." Was his reply.

"No?" The pirate demanded. "Whadda mean, no?"

"We mean no. We have 5 mages on board, along with their familiars. Do you really want to try and fight us?"

The pirates started grumbling amongst each other, until one spoke up. "Alright, we'll let you off, but our leader wants to talk to you." He said in a definitely non-pirate accent.

"Why?" Hiato asked. "If you think we are that stupid to fall for a trap…"

"It isn't a trap ok? We won't hurt you if you won't hurt us. Deal?"

Hiato looked at his friends, who all nodded. "Deal."

After the two ships docked the party of heroes (including Wardes) went aboard the "pirate" vessel to meet their captain who was below deck. The group of 6 entered the low beamed captain's cabin to come face to face with a man who looked every inch a pirate captain.

"So you must be from the vessel we failed to capture eh?" He asked in a pirate accent that Hiato could swear sounded put on. They weren't going to give too much away, just enough so this captain knew who he was dealing with.

"Yes we are. My name is Viscount Wardes. My companions are Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche and Hiato." He said the last name with contempt in his voice, and Hiato smirked. "We are on a secret mission, and we will not tell you anymore of it as it is of utmost importance." The captain's eyes widened. "Tristain?" He asked, his pirate accent now dropped. Wardes nodded. "We must get to Albion as soon as possible, so we will be taking our leave now."

"That won't be necessary." The pirate captain said. He removed his disguise, revealing himself to be Prince Wales of Albion, which shocked everyone present. "My apologies, but we were using this guise to attack rebel supply ships at any opportunity we had. I take it you are here looking for me?"

Wardes nodded and explained their mission. Wales was quite happy to hand over the information, but much more resistant to the idea of being rescued. Once it seemed that trying to persuade him was pointless, Wardes asked him another question.

"My good Prince, can I ask a favour of you?"

"Of course." Wales replied. "As long as it is within my power to grant."

"Could you formally wed me and my Fiancé Louise?" He asked. Louise inhaled sharply. She had been waiting for Wardes to do something, and now looked to Hiato to see his response.

"I would be glad to. At least before I die I can bring about lasting happiness somewhere in the world." He said. Wardes was smirking, and turned to look at Louise, but before he could speak, Hiato beat him to it.

"Prince Wales, As Louise's familiar, I oppose this marriage, and I believe I have a way to solve the issue."

Wales raised an eyebrow. "And what is this way? And why do you oppose this marriage?"

"Because I love Louise, and I do not believe Wardes is an appropriate Husband." Wardes gritted his teeth and looked like he was about to swear "And I believe that this can be solved… with a duel." Hiato finished.

Wales was interested, and so was Louise. "How does that solve the issue?" He asked.

"Simple. The winner gets Louise's hand in marriage."

"And the loser?" Wales asked.

"He must never talk to Louise again."

Wales looked amused, and then looked at Wardes. "Well Viscount, do you accept his challenge?"

Wardes smirked. "Yes your highness, I accept."

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Sorry if it's a bit short or feels rushed, because I kinda had to rush the end to get it done, and also the lack of action, but the next chapter will basically just be action from start to finish so please wait for it****. Anyway, thanks again for reading and I will see you in the next chapter. Cheers!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello and welcome to chapter 14! Sorry I didn't upload on Sunday, I was busy with family and stuff for most of the weekend. But now I'm ready to write tons of story, so I hope your all ready!**

**Now then, its time for what most of you have been waiting for. Its time... for Hiato VS Wardes!**

**Let the chapter commence!**

** Also sorry if I suck at writing fights.**

**Disclaimer: I Do not own FOZ**

* * *

It had been decided that the duel would take place once they had reached Albion. Wardes had wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible, but Hiato had managed to convince Wales to postpone the duel until they reached Albion. Wardes had grumbled about it, but accepted. Now Hiato and Wardes were standing in a large chamber inside the castle of Londinium, Albion's capital city. The chamber was large with an arching roof and glass windows along the walls. It was one of the few parts of the castle still intact, and was mostly used for training drills for the remainder of Albion's royal army.

Wales had given the letters to Louise, yet still refused to return to Tristain with them, despite her best efforts to convince him. After talking to Hiato about it, as well as the soldiers in the castle, she had come up with a plan to get Wales out of Albion alive, but they would only be able to put it in place after the duel was over. Louise was confident Hiato could beat Wardes, but he had done something that had confused everyone, except for Wardes.

He had asked that they fight only using swords, no magic or other similar abilities, and if such were used, the person who uses them forfeits the duel.

Louise, Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche were still trying to figure out why Hiato had asked such a rule be in place as they stood in the hall where the 2 would be fighting. Wardes had agreed to the rule instantly, since he knew his skills with a sword were unmatched. He had also used it to fire some insults at Hiato.

"Afraid of my magic, dragon boy?" He said as they stood opposite each other, weapons drawn. "Not really." Hiato responded, holding Derf with one hand. "I just want to see how good you are without your magic, or rather if you can even fight without it." He smirked. Wardes just laughed "Fool, I can beat you without my magic without any difficulty." He said

"Well we'll see about that." Hiato responded. Wales would act as judge for the duel, while the rest of Hiato's friends were merely spectators.

"Gentlemen" the prince said "please keep it civil."

"My apologies your highness."

"Sorry."

Louise looked at Hiato who just grinned at her. She just shook her head.

"Very well then, you may begin." Wales declared.

Hiato and Wardes charged at each other, Derf meeting Wardes's rapier, the impact knocking them both back a few inches. Immediately Hiato swung Derf towards Wardes's chest, which he parried and tried stabbing at Hiato's chest. He dodged and then jumped backwards, creating some distance between the 2 fighters.

"Not bad." Wardes said. "You may actually stand a chance."

"Why thank you, good to know my enemy's always underestimate me." Hiato responded before charging forwards again. The duel would only be over once either of them surrendered, and Hiato had no intention of going easy on Wardes, dragon powers or not.

He swung diagonally at Wardes, who blocked the blow, locking the 2 in a struggle. Wardes was able to hold his own at first, but Hiato's strength proved superior, as he managed to push Wardes backwards and leave him vulnerable. Hiato jumped forwards and hit Wardes in the face with the butt of Derf, before cutting him across the chest, leaving a thin bleeding line diagonally across his upper chest. Wardes's clothing was tougher than it looked, but Hiato had still managed to cut through it.

"Not bad." Wardes panted out, sounding more frustrated now. "But remember this, you will still lose. I'm only just warming up."

"Well hurry up old man, I don't have all day." Hiato said mockingly. The look of annoyance on Wardes's face grew, and he lunged at Hiato, suddenly stabbing at him with his rapier rapidly. Hiato was now forced to just dodged the assault, since trying to counter attack could result in him being hit. Suddenly the rapier grazed Hiato's cheek, and he grunted as he felt both the pain and the blood running down the side of his face. Wardes assault was relentless, but Hiato could already see a way to counter it.

As Wardes stabbed towards his head, time slowed down for Hiato. As the rapier was about to hit him square in the face, he dodged to the right before he launched himself forward, elbowing Wardes in the face. He then spun around to the left before whacking him in the side of the head with the flat of Derf's blade, whom was greatly enjoying the fight.

"That's the way partner! Show 'em what you got!" The talking sword said cheerily. "Got it partner." Hiato responded. Wardes got up, blood now running down the left of his face from a cut above his eye. On the sidelines Louise, who was happy and worried, had finally figured out why Hiato had asked for it to be just a sword battle. Even though Hiato wasn't using his dragon powers, he still had enhanced strength and speed, even without his familiar runes, which gave him an advantage over Wardes. Hiato knew this, meaning that he had basically won the duel the moment Wardes had agreed to fight without magic. She was worried that Wardes might try something, so she kept her wand at the ready.

Wardes was furious. He was losing to some pathetic little familiar in a duel that should never have even happened. His marriage to Louise would have gone off flawlessly if not for this little brat, and now his mission was in danger. He needed to kill the prince and retrieve the letters, as well as get Louise under his control, but Hiato had possibly made all 3 objectives impossible to complete. He gritted his teeth and charged forward once more towards Hiato.

The two clashed again, sparks exploding outwards from the impacts of their weapons. Hiato ducked under a stab from Wardes and swung upwards, managing to cut Wardes across the stomach vertically. Wardes swung downwards, anger now taking the place of reason. Hiato jumped to the right, kicking Wardes in the gut in the process, causing the man to cough up some spit. Hiato landed and jumped back towards Wardes, who had decided enough was enough.

"TIME TO DIE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" he roared. He pointed his rapier at Hiato and unleashed a massive wind attack, which hit Hiato and sent him flying backwards through the air. Smirking Wardes started charging electricity, before firing a massive lighting bolt straight at Hiato, who was completely defenceless. _Damn, should have been more careful _he thought. On the sidelines, everyone was completely shocked (ha ha ha) that Wardes had just broken the rules. He might have been a bit forceful with Louise, and his dislike of Hiato obvious, but none of them, except for Louise, had expected him to break the rules.

Despite being ready for Wardes to do something, Louise had been too slow to try and stop him.

"HIATO!" she screamed as the lighting bolt approached her familiar. Everything went into slow motion. Hiato, who was still flying backwards, grunted before moving Derf in the path of the incoming attack. He knew he was in trouble, and while he had expected Wardes to try something, he had still been caught off guard. _This is gonna hurt like hell if it doesn't kill me _Hiato thought as he braced himself for the incoming attack. As it got closer he closed his eyes and waited for it.

And nothing happened.

Instead of the intense pain that he expected would have been coursing through his body, he just felt pain in his back as he hit the floor. He opened his eyes, surprised to see his body still intact, before looking at the blade in his hand, which caused him to go wide eyed.

Derf had changed, the hilt now gold, and the blade was now shining as though it was good as new. One thing that Hiato noticed that was strange was that a small green gem was visible in the hilt, and the backside of the blade almost seemed to be a dark red colour rather than black. On top of that, the sword was glowing, emitting a small aura.

"OH YEAH! That feels great!" The talking sword yelled. "Man I haven't felt this good in a long, long time."

"Derf what happened?" Hiato asked, completely confused as to how he hadn't been shocked to death.

"My old abilities just unlocked partner. I can absorb magical attacks! Of course bigger ones take longer but..."

"I'll take it as it is, sounds really useful." Hiato said, standing up and smirking. Wardes had just recovered from the shock of seeing his attack being absorbed by the sword.

"That's impossible! That attack should have killed you!" He yelled. Hiato's smirk got bigger.

"Well it didn't, thanks to my partner. Anyway I guess it's about time I got serious..." Flame exploded out from Hiato, enveloping him completely. It cleared away, revealing his arms and legs were transformed into their dragon forms, as well as his wings bursting from his back. Fire surrounded him, bellowing up all around.

"... and turned up the heat." he added.

(CUE EPIC MUSIC (I RECOMMEND NATSU'S THEME))

Hiato charged forwards, fire flowing out from behind him. He sheathed Derf in fire and swung at Wardes, who barely managed to counter, his own weapon sheathed in wind. The two broke apart, Wardes quickly firing a point blank wind blast at Hiato, which he dodged before hurling a ball of fire at Wardes, which exploded on impact and sent him flying a few meters, causing him to land on his back. Wardes scrambled to his feet quickly after impact, and glared at Hiato, who had fire burning all around him.

On the sidelines, Louise, Kirche and Guiche let out sighs of relief. Tabitha merely looked relived. Wales however was furious.

"Viscount! You have broken the rules of this duel by using magic, and have thus forfeited the duel! Stand down at once!" He commanded. Wardes glanced at the prince, and laughed.

"My apologies your highness, but that won't be happening." he said before sending a lightning bolt at Wales. Unable to react, the prince watched in horror as the bolt shot through the air towards him. Before it could hit him however, Hiato jumped in the way and used Derf to absorb the blast.

"Leave them out of it." He said, his voice threatening. "This is between me and you, don't involve anyone else." A wall of fire appeared behind Hiato, preventing the spectators from getting involved but still allowing them to watch. Wardes chuckled. "Very well then, but I hope you know, regardless of rules I am still taking Louise as my wife after this fight." Wardes boasted.

"Not if your dead." Hiato shot back, the flames around him getting more intense, and his face a look of anger. He glanced towards the spectators "Don't get involved, this is my fight." He braced himself on the ground before hurling himself straight at Wardes, flapping his wings to increase his speed. Wardes managed to lift his weapon in time to block. As the weapons collided, Hiato merely grunted before pushing and sending Wardes flying across the room. Using his wind magic, he managed to stop himself, before firing off a barrage of lightning bolts at Hiato. Hiato dodged the first few, before launching fireballs which collided with several of the lightning bolts.

Wardes ceased the barrage only to charge up a much more powerful attack. "THUNDER STRIKE!" He roared as he fired the attack at Hiato. It was a massive lightning bolt that was discharging lightning all over the room violently. As it was about to reach Hiato he quickly raised Derf and gripped the handle with both hands, and braced for the attack. As it struck him, he was knocked back several feet, but still managed to stay standing. Digging his feet into the ground, he started trying to push the attack back, fire swirling up all around him.

Those on the sidelines were quietly cheering for Hiato, but not interfering as he had asked. They were however worried about his ability to deal with the attack that he was currently handling, as well as his overall ability to win the fight.

Hiato was struggling to hold back the attack, which was discharging bolts of lightning that were blowing holes in the floor and walls. Wardes laughed like a maniac. "You cannot win now, this is my strongest attack, there is no way you can survive it!"

Hiato smirked. "Really? This is the best you got? Not very impressive." He taunted, before he started to roar. The fire around him was getting more intense. He started to roar even louder, the fires getting even more intense and beating back the lightning. He could feel Wardes pouring more power into it, so Hiato did the same. He felt the heat of his flames rise as he poured more power into them, and pushed them against the lightning. He managed to take a step forwards, the pressure of the lightning attack starting to lessen. He simply poured more and more power into it, pushing harder with Derf, who too had joined in on yelling.

Wardes, having grown tired of the struggle they were locked in, simply detonated the lightning bolt. The spectators had to shield themselves from the explosion, and once they looked where Hiato was there was now a smoking crater. Louise's heart sank, while Wardes let out a laugh.

"Ha! I knew it. He was all talk, he couldn't even stand up to my best att-" Wardes started before he was suddenly cut off.

"DRAGON FIST!"

Wardes suddenly found himself being hit in the face with what felt like a full speed, train on fire, but in reality was just Hiato's fist. The attack sent him flying across the room and also created a rather large impact crater when he landed. He now had a large bruise on his right cheek and some of his facial hair was singed off. He got up and looked towards his attacker.

Hiato was fine, only now he had a few singe marks on his clothes, a scratch on his face, as well as a smirk. Wardes started shaking from anger. "Why won't you just die!?" He demanded. "Why must you be so persistent? You've ruined all my plans you little brat!"

"Your plans? What plans?" Wales demanded. "Tell me Viscount, why would you attempt to kill me?"

"Hey that's my line!" Hiato complained, causing everyone except Wales and Wardes to either sweat drop or roll their eyes.

Wardes looked at the prince before laughing "Because your 'highness', I am part of the Reconquista, as well as a member of the Order of the grand hunt." He looked back at Hiato "I was never directly ordered to kill you, but since I have orders to kill anyone who gets in my way, I guess it counts."

Hiato raised an eyebrow "So you mean the Reconquista and the Order are working together?" He asked

Wardes just laughed again "No, they are the same thing, only with different names and purposes. The Reconquista's goal is to conquer Albion, while the Order's is to eliminate any pesky dragons outside of this country, as well as serving as executioners for the dragons once we are done with conquering the rest of the lands, and I will be the leader of them."

Hiato started to shake, the ground cracking around him. "D-Did you just say... you're going to kill the dragons... once your done using them...?" He said, his voice thick with anger. Suddenly his flames formed a large circle around him and Wardes, preventing escape. "Anyone... who wants... to kill dragons... DOESN'T DESERVE TO LIVE!"

(CUE THE EPIC MUSIC AGAIN)

Hiato roared before charging at Wardes again, Derf and his wings engulfed in fire. Wardes blasted a wind attack at him, which blew away most of the fire Hiato had gathered around him. Wardes's eyes lit up in realization and he started laughing "I can just blow your flames away, that'll make you helpless!" He hurled another bunch of wind blasts and Hiato, and the occasional lightning bolt, all of which Hiato just dodged. Unfortunately Wardes's plan was partially working, as Hiato was unable to get close enough to land a hit without being blasted away.

After dodging another lightning bolt, Hiato landed on the ground and snarled at Wardes. "That's it, NOW I'm getting serious." Suddenly fire engulfed Hiato's whole body again, and when it cleared he had changed again. His head was now just like it was in his dragon form, elongated, small wing protrusions instead of ears, his sharper teeth, and the golden horn in-between his eyes. He smirked "Let me show you what I can do now!"

Hiato took a deep breath, his chest swelling before he suddenly unleashed a massive torrent of fire from his mouth aimed straight at Wardes. The flames moved quickly and Wardes was barely able to erect a barrier before they reached him. While he was busy keeping the flames at bay, Hiato started to glow red.

"As much as I'd like to take my time and beat the hell out of you, I need to get going, so I'll end this quickly." Hiato rose his head upwards and roared again, his flames appearing even brighter and bigger than before and swelling around him. Wardes looked towards him, and Hiato lowered his head to look at Wardes. "You showed me your strongest attack, so it's only fair I do the same." The ground started cracking around him as he powered up. The flames around Wardes died away, but he didn't even notice it. Then he felt anger building up, anger about the fact that this _boy, _no _familiar,_ believed he could win, that he could beat the mighty Viscount De Wardes.

"I agree you fool. Let us end this!" Wardes surrounded himself in wind and lightning, preparing to meet Hiato head on. Once he felt he had enough power, he launched his combined attack of wind and lightning towards Hiato, whom gripped Derf with both hands and hurled himself head first at the attack.

The two forces collided, one with Hiato at the centre, one with Wardes at the back. Hiato was grunting as he was trying to push Wardes's attack back. "Derf, I need you to absorb as much magic from his attack as you can!" Hiato yelled at his sword over the howling wind of Wardes's attack. On the sidelines, everyone was anxious at the outcome of this struggle, as it would determine the fate of everyone in the room. Hiato felt himself getting pushed back, and he received no reply from his sword.

"Derf!?" Hiato yelled again, trying to get some kind of reply. The sword still didn't answer, and when Hiato was about to yell at it for the third time, his runes started glowing even brighter. He suddenly felt a surge of energy coming from it, and he looked down at his right hand. However his surprise didn't last long, and he immediately started pouring the power he was getting into his flames, which were starting to die due to the wind. Then the energy he was getting suddenly increased, and he heard laughter.

"I did it partner!" Derf exclaimed.

"Did what!?" Hiato asked, yelling.

"I figured out how to transfer magical energy I absorb to ya so you can use it for ya fire stuff!" he exclaimed with great joy. That was when Hiato noticed it. He could feel Wardes's attack slowly weakening, and Hiato grinned.

"Great one Derf!" Hiato yelled. He could feel Wardes pouring more power into the attack to compensate for the power Hiato was absorbing, and the sudden increase nearly knocked Hiato over, which would have been fatal. He could feel his power rising, and so he slammed his flames against Wardes's attack with renewed vigour.

Outside the struggle, everyone suddenly noticed Hiato slowly taking back the advantage. This caused hope to surge within all of them, as Louise yelled "Come on Hiato, you can do it!" She didn't think he could hear her, but it was the thought that counts. The flames Hiato had put up earlier were still there, so interfering was still out of the question, for now.

Hiato however DID hear her, and that's when he decided it was time to finish this off. He roared at the top of his lungs, and then started to concentrate some of his power in on himself. The red aura he had now grew larger and brighter, and then he spoke, and when he did, it sounded like 2 people speaking at once. Hiato's voice and a much deeper, older voice.

"BOOSTED DRAGON!" He roared, his power suddenly spiking massively. His flame blared, growing at least 5 times in size and intensity. He pushed forwards through Wardes's attack which was weakening each second. Wardes's started to panic, but there was nothing he could do. Suddenly, with one final push, Wardes's attack dissipated, and Hiato charged towards him with his sword engulfed in flame and his green eyes gleaming. All Wardes could do was raise his weapon for one final defence, but as Hiato's sword impacted his, he felt a massive wave of heat engulf him, and his weapon snapped in two.

The last thing Viscount Wardes felt was heat. Overwhelmingly intense heat, before all went black.

* * *

Hiato was breathing heavily. He had given everything in the fight in order to beat Wardes, and he had managed to win. Wardes was dead now, burned to ashes by the intensity of Hiato's attack. His rapier lay several feet away, snapped in half and slightly melted and completely black. He reverted to normal form, and collapsed onto his back. He heard footsteps as his friends approached and turned and smiled as Louise ran up to him and gave him a huge hug.

"You were amazing Hiato." She said, smiling at him. "Thanks." he said. He looked at the rest of his friends. "Hey Kirche, mind giving me a refuel? I kinda used all my power in that fight, so I'm a little flat."

"Sure thing." The red head replied. She pulled out her wand and motioned for Louise to get away. She then used a simple fire spell on Hiato which just continually sprayed him with fire.

"That feels great." He said, smiling. Wales walked over and stood just out of reach of the flames. "Well Hiato... is that your name?" He nodded "I declare you winner of the duel, and thus by extension, you are now engaged to Louise."

Louise beamed at Wales before she turned to look at Hiato. "Well, do you 2 wish to be wed before you leave? I may conduct the ceremony if you wish." Wales asked with a smile.

Louise blinked, before blushing and shaking her head rapidly. "No no no no no, you highness it's too soon, but thank you for the off-"

"Hey Louise?" Hiato asked. She turned to look at him. "Yeah?" She asked.

"I'm cancelling our engagement."

* * *

**Oh cliffhangers, how I love you so. Anyway before you all start trying to lynch me, no Hiato is not breaking up with Louise. And also you guys only have to wait till friday for the next chapter (since I'm doing 3-4 a week now) so the suspense will not be so long. Anyway, what Hiato just said _may _cause a _very _hilarious scene in the next chapter. (well at least I hope it will be hilarious). Also I'm going to be _very _evil with my cliffhangers since I am publishing so often for the next few weeks, so have fun with that! (mwahahaha). I hope you enjoyed the fight and it lived up to your expectations, and am as glad as I am Wardes is dead. Anyway, please leave a review, thanks for reading and I will see you, in the next chapter.**

**Cyanara! (I probably spelled that wrong)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello and welcome to chapter 15! Not much to say here, except I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

"I'm cancelling our engagement."

Louise just stared at him, along with everyone else. "W-what?" She asked him, disbelief rising inside her.

"I said I'm cancelling us being engaged." Hiato said, with a smile on his face for some reason.

Louise felt her heart drop like a stone. She couldn't believe it, the person she loved, who she thought loved her just as much as she loved him, had basically rejected her and said he didn't want to marry her. She didn't even understand what was going on and why Hiato would say something like that, and she could feel tears building up in her eyes.

"W-why?" She asked in a broken voice. Hiato immediately noticed this, as well as how she was starting to cry, and his smile disappeared instantly. Realising Louise may have taken what he just said the wrong way, he quickly decided to try and fix what was going on.

"Because Louise, I didn't fight that duel to win your hand in marriage. I fought it to free you from having to marry Wardes." Everyone blinked, and Louise felt the tears stop building up. "W-what?" she stammered out. "I fought that duel to free you from having to marry Wardes. My goal wasn't to win your hand in marriage like a prize or something, because something like that can't be considered a prize. So I'm cancelling the engagement because it would just feel wrong having "won" you as my fiancé."

Everyone else was now even more confused "So wait, d-don't you want to marry me?" Louise asked, before blushing after what she realised she had said. Hiato just smiled "Of course I do, but I just don't think were ready for it yet. Plus I actually want to ask you, the proper way couples do it, and make it as romantic as possible." He said.

Louise felt her sadness go away, and she wiped the tears that had been building in her eyes away, and started walking forwards. "Hiato..." she said in a sweet voice. Suddenly she stopped. Anger started boiling up inside her along with irritation. "Hiato..." she said in a low voice, which everyone took note of.

"Louise is somethi-"

"YOU IDIOT!"

**_*BONK*_**

"OW what was that for?" Hiato wined, massaging the lump on his head. Louise had just hit him, rather hard I should say, on the top of his head. She still had the angry looked about her, and Hiato winced when he made eye contact.

"Because your an idiot." She said simply.

"How am I an idi-"

_***BONK***_

"OW what was that for!?" he yelled, massaging the second lump on his head. Louise was feeling better after having hit Hiato twice. "Like I said, because your an idiot."

"Okay how am I an id-"

_***BONK***_

"CUT IT OUT!" Hiato screamed, now backing away from Louise in fear. "Okay, how am I an idiot?" he said quickly. Louise just glared at him.

"Because you said 'I'm cancelling our engagement' like it was no big deal!" She said, her voice rising, causing Hiato to crawl away a little further. "Couldn't you have at least thought of a better way to say it, or rather just explain what you wanted to say, and don't just blurt something out like that!" She yelled at him. "Try to think how other people will react to what you say!"

Hiato just looked at Louise, who wasn't even looking at him any more. She had crossed her arms and was looking at the wall to the right. Hiato sighed "Sorry Louise. I really can be an idiot sometimes can't I?" He stood up. "I'm so sorry Louise. It's just I..."

"... am a complete and total idiot?" Louise finished, looking at him. Hiato laughed sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah... sorry about that... I'll try in future to be such an-"

Suddenly he was cut off as Louise was now really close to him. "Don't." She said, before she started smiling "Because, your my idiot, and I love you just the way you are." Hiato blinked, before he started blushing. Louise laughed and draped her arms over his shoulders, before leaning in to kiss him on the lips.

"So you're not mad at me any more?" Hiato asked.

Louise's expression became a dead serious one "No, I'm completely furious." She said in a serious tone, before bursting out in laughter at Hiato's reaction, which had been to adopt an expression of sheer horror. He dead panned at her after she started laughing.

"Not funny"

"Would you prefer me to be mad?"

"Keep laughing"

Louise just smiled at how quickly he had said that. She wasn't angry any more at Hiato, since he had just been a colossal idiot it wasn't _completely_ his fault, and what he had said to quickly avoid her wrath had been very sweet.

"I Love you Hiato." She said smiling.

"Really?"

She glared at him

"I love you too Louise." He said in a sincere voice, despite the glare he got. They both chuckled before they started to lean in for a kiss...

"If you 2 are done, we still have to get out of here. Of course we could just watch this all day..." Kirche teased. Hiato and Louise froze, before breaking apart and blushing. Guiche, Kirche, Sylphid and even Wales let out small chuckles at the couples reaction.

"S-sorry about that. We were kinda... um..." Hiato trailed off.

"About to kiss?" Kirche teased. Hiato and Louise went slightly redder, and Kirche laughed. "You 2 are adorable. Anyway, lets focus on getting out of here for now, OK?" she asked the two of them. They glanced at each other and smiled, before turning to face Kirche.

"Right." They both said nodding.

"So do you have a plan?" Guiche asked Hiato, who nodded.

"Yeah, its simple really. You, Tabitha and Kirche will fly on Sylphid, while Louise will fly on me." He said. The last bit of his sentence confused everyone except Louise and Sylphid. "Fly on you? Don't you mean you'll carry her?" Kirche asked. Hiato adopted an expression of thought "Well it _is_ technically the same thing, since Sylphid will be carrying all of you, and I guess you could call fly on and carry the same thing."

This made everyone even more confused "What are you talking about? Louise can't ride on your back when you're flying, you won't be able to move you're wings."

"Not if I'm in dragon form." He said.

"Dragon form!?"

"Yeah, I can fully transform into a dragon and I'm about the same size as Sylphid, maybe a bit bigger. I figured it'd be easier to carry Louise like that than in my human form." He said. Louise then raised an eyebrow

"Are you saying I'm fat or something?" she said teasingly but with a slight edge. Hiato face palmed _Walked straight into that one you idiot_ he said to himself. "No, it's just I'd find it easier to carry you in dragon form over longer distances than human form. It's easier carrying something on your back than in your arms you know." Louise then frowned "Wait, have you ever even flown in your dragon form before?"

Hiato blinked, before laughing sheepishly "Well no..." Louise rolled her eyes "but a first time for everything I guess. Come on it can't be that hard." Sylphid gave him an amused look, and he shot her a glare "Don't you start on me too." Sylphid just seemed to shrug, and Hiato turned his attention back to his friends. Before he could speak however, the door to the hall slammed open.

"You're highness we are in serious..." he stopped when he saw the condition of the room "What in the-" was all he said before Wales cut him off.

"Ignore the room, just some minor collateral damage." Hiato and Louise exchanged amused looks. "What is the matter?" His answer was provided in the form of an explosion from somewhere nearby in another part of the castle. "It's the rebels sir, their ships are now bombarding the castle."

"WHAT!?" Everyone exclaimed before rushing to the gap in the wall that had been made during the battle. On the way there, Hiato stepped over Wardes's rapier and noticed a glint from something in the rubble. After digging through it he found a small oddly shaped ring. He frowned at it, not sure what to do. After a moments thought, he decided to hold onto the ring, since either it wasn't something that belonged to Wardes or it did belong to him, but if it did... _well he's dead so there's not much he can do about it is there? _Hiato thought. He got to the hole and looked outside.

There was a large group of airships in the sky above the castle, raining cannon fire down on it and the surrounding city. They looked similar to the one Wales had used as a 'pirate' ship except they looked to be in better condition. Every few seconds a cannon would fire, launching a deadly shell into the city below. Wales gritted his teeth as he took in the scene, obviously frustrated at his opponents tactics.

"Cowards. Instead of fighting us they choose to simply blast out city into dust" he growled. Hiato just looked at him _You know, I really doubt these guys are all that concerned about what you think of them _was what he wanted to say, but he kept quiet. He just looked back up at the ships "Well, this makes it more complicated, why can't things ever be easy?" he said to no one in particular.

"We need a new plan." Guiche said.

"Ya don't say." Hiato said sarcastically. Guiche looked at him, and instead of taking offence like he usually did to Hiato's sarcasm, smirked. "Well what are you planning then, burning your way through?"

Hiato gave him a hard stare "Are you psychic?" He demanded. Guiche's smirk fell away "Your kidding..."

"No I'm not." Hiato said. He turned to Kirche "Kirche, I need you to give me all the fire you can manage. Mine's slowly restoring but I'll need every bit I can get." She nodded, before once more hitting him with a directed fire spell which was quickly draining her magical energy but restoring Hiato's power just as fast. He then noticed Wales giving him a strange look. "What?" Hiato asked.

"Are you sure such a plan will work? It is highly likely you may be shot down by either their cannons or any of their mages if any are on their ships. I recommend a different method of-" Hiato put a hand on his shoulder. "My dear Wales, didn't you know that being on fire tends to be _very_ distracting? I highly doubt _anyone_ would be able to cast a spell or aim a cannon if they were on fire. It tends to be a great motivator for dropping whatever you're busy with and doing some spontaneous exercise, even if short lived." He turned back to face the others.

"Right people, here's the plan. Sylphid, you will be carrying everyone while I punch a hole in the ships for us to escape." The dragon seemed to be surprised he was addressing her directly, and didn't respond for a bit. She eventually nodded, very quickly, which caused Hiato to frown for a second before he shrugged it off. He turned to the prince "That includes you Wales."

The prince looked at him "I already told you, I am not leav-"

"WHAT'S THAT OVER THERE!?" Hiato yelled, pointing at something behind Wales. The prince spun around in instinct, hand to his weapon only to see he was staring at a blank wall. Before he could say anything, he felt a pain at the back of his neck and he passed out.

"I'm surprised that actually worked." Hiato said, slightly in awe. He picked up Wales and turned around to see the shocked faces of everyone except for Louise, who just raised an eyebrow. "Was that necessary?" She asked

"Yes. I had to distract him so I could knock him out." He said defensively. "What are you all gawking at?" he asked the others.

"W-why did you knock him unconscious?" Kirche stammered out.

"So we can take him back to Tristain." Suddenly he just realized something. "I forgot to include him in our original plan... oh well doesn't matter" He muttered before he resumed speaking. "Don't worry, his men are fine with it, we talked with all of them before the duel and they agreed to it. They want Wales to survive so one day he can come back and re-establish the royal house of Albion. Convincing him to come with us was impossible, so we had to do this." He said. Kirche nodded in understanding. "So now what?" She asked.

"Simple. We leave." Hiato said, putting Wales onto Sylphids back. Everyone except for Hiato climbed onto Sylphid, and Kirche needed some help since she was exhausted from basically giving Hiato all her energy. Hiato turned to the soldier who (for some reason) was still standing at the door.

"Tell the other's we have the prince and he'll be out safe and sound. That should bolster their morale a bit, hopefully."

The soldier nodded and shut the door. He turned back to his friends "Right, you all ready to get out of here?" he asked. They all nodded. Hiato quickly transformed, becoming engulfed in his flames. Once he was done, he had a ball of fire in each hand and a mischievous smirk on his face. "Right then, time to kick up the heat!" He hurled the two balls of fire at the wall, blowing the hole (which was already big enough) even wider. Hiato spread his wings and jumped into the air, being followed by Sylphid. He began charging towards the fleet of ships, fire blazing in his hands. The ships noticed and a few aimed their cannons at him and fired, causing Hiato to smirk.

(QUE EPIC MUSIC (NATSU'S THEME OR FAIRY TAIL'S MAIN THEME WILL PROBABLY WORK) WHY AM I SHOUTING THIS)

He dodged the first cannon ball before accelerating towards the ship directly in front of him. He smashed through the side and ended up in a cabin filled with confused crew members.

"What the -" one of the crew started.

"Sorry, surprise inspection." Hiato announced

"Of what!?" Someone demanded

"Of this ships ability to fly when on fire." Hiato smirked before throwing one fireball to the front of the ship and another towards the back. He then launched himself off the floor and through the roof. Once he got high enough, he gathered another fireball and threw it straight downwards towards the centre of the ship. It impacted and exploded, setting the deck on fire. The ship began to sink, and Hiato turned and started flying towards a neighbouring ship, which he dived straight down on and ended up in the magazine (or armoury).

"What the-" A crew member said as he burst through the roof.

"Sorry to drop in, won't be long." He looked around before smirking. He then jumped back into the air and threw a fireball straight down into the magazine. The resulting explosion obliterated about 2 thirds of the ship, sending the last bit soaring downwards. He spun around and barely managed to dodge a cannonball fired from the ship directly in front of him. It seemed most of them were abandoning their bombardment of the city and instead were focusing on him. "Well then, bring it on." Hiato said as he charged into the hail of cannon balls flying at him, dodging them all.

He smashed into another ship, this time immediately setting the room he arrived in on fire. He then climbed out on deck before setting it on fire and leaving. He repeated this several times, until he realized the ships were getting more accurate with their cannon fire, and he got hit in the chest. The impact wounded him, but it also made him realize how quickly his energy was draining. _Damn, if I don't think of something soon, we're all dead_ the others were watching nervously, worried that Hiato might not be able to get them out safely after all.

Hiato was dodging cannon balls when suddenly they lessened in intensity, and what Hiato saw next made his eyes go wide. Several squads of dragon riders appeared, charging towards him. They clawed and bit at him, and their riders tried to slash at him from their backs. He managed to knock the rider off one dragon but got a deep gash in his shoulder in return. The others were getting more and more worried each second, as Hiato was starting to take damage, and was forced to land on one of the ships which was on-fire but still in the air.

Despite standing in the flames raging on the deck, his energy wasn't restoring as quick as he'd like. Since these flames were caused by him, they gave much less energy back than those that weren't his. In fact it was so small he barely noticed it. The riders were gathering around the ship, getting ready to strike. Hiato started to get angry now. Angry that other dragons, despite being from another dimension, were being used as weapons, and would be disregarded once the Reconquista had no more need of them.

He blinked _OF COURSE! I can tell the dragons what Wardes said and maybe convince them to help me!_ He reached out with his mind towards the other dragons. "_Brothers, hear me! Please, cease fighting one of your own kind and help me fight the humans who plan to betray you!" _he shouted out mentally. He could feel Louise's worry mounting, so he hoped this crazy idea of his would work. Suddenly a voice echoed back to him "_Brothers? Who are you to call us brothers?"_

_"I am one of your kind, though it may not seem so. I am a dragonoid, a dragon with the power to take on a human form. Please listen, the humans intend to betray you once they have no more need of you, and then those who ride you now may very well become your executioners."_ Hiato was hoping the dragon would listen to him. A few tense seconds passed, until he saw one of the riders try to spur his dragon to charge at Hiato, whom braced for the attack. The dragon simply seemed to ignore him, its gaze focused on Hiato.

_"How can we trust you? Show us you truly are a dragon, and we may consider believing you." _Hiato nodded, and he quickly performed the full transformation. The only difference now was he had injuries all over his body. "_Do you trust me now?" _Hiato asked. The other dragons seemed hesitant, and the riders were getting more frustrated at their mounts refusal to obey them. Suddenly one of the riders hit his dragon and yelled "Move you stupid overgrown lizard!"

That sealed the riders fate _"Very well, we trust you and shall fight along side you since we can tell you are not lying. Let us deal with these humans who think we can be used as mere tools!"_

_"My thanks, and I agree."_ Hiato responded. Suddenly all the dragons decided their riders were extremely annoying and simply shook them off their backs along with their saddles, which they just set on fire and/or broke via physical force or help of the other dragons. Hiato took off again, still in dragon form, and was pleasantly surprised when several dragons blasted him with their fire. He nodded his thanks before turning to face the remaining ships. _"Now then, lets clear a hole."_

Hiato and the dragons charged towards the ships, all of them roaring a battle cry. The crews of the ships seemed to hesitate at the approaching dragons, and stopped firing briefly, giving the dragons enough time to get close and unleash their fury. Dragons strafed ships with fire, setting the whole deck alight while other broke inside and set the interiors alight, roasting any inside. Other set fire to magazines, obliterating ships in large balls of fire. Overall, the dragons made a very large hole for the others to escape through. Once they were through however, the dragons decided to burn a few more ships to get the message across that following them was _not_ a very good idea for your continued good health.

Hiato was now flying alongside Sylphid, still in his dragon form. He had never flown in this state before, so he wanted to get some practice in. He glanced over to the rhyme dragon's back and smiled when he saw the forms of all his friends, except for Louise, safe.

Louise happened to be on his back, idly stroking the scales at the back of his head, which he was enjoying immensely. Suddenly she gave a start, prompting Hiato to turn his head slightly.

"_Something wrong?" _he asked

_"Yeah, I've just realized we may not be through the worst of it yet." _She said.

Hiato turned his head to look at her _"Oh come on, we just charged into a country in the middle of a revolution, I fought a key member of the revolutionaries and we blasted our way through a fleet of warships. What could be worse than that?" _He asked.

_"One thing_" She replied, sounding fearful "_My Mother._"

* * *

**Kinda ominous isn't it? Well there you have it folks! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review telling me what you think of it, it means a lot to me. ****Thanks again for reading! (also btw because Wardes cheated and used magic, Hiato won by default, so thats why they were engaged, just in case you didn't know :) )**

**So now Hiato has to deal with Louise's mother. How will he handle it? Will he be able to convince her to let him marry Louise? Will Louise be able to talk sense into her mother? Find out next time, on FOZ a different tale! (which will go up on sunday, probably)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 16! Thanks once more for all the reviews, favourites, follows and reads, it means a lot. Anyway, the events that happen from now are in a different order from how they happened in FOZ. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

"_My mother_."

Hiato looked at her. He wasn't sure if she was being serious or not _"You're mother? How can she be worse than what we just went through?" _He asked, his voice thick with disbelief. Louise seemed to flinch again "_My mother is known as Karin of the heavy wind. She's the most powerful wind mage Tristain has ever known. She's also a knight and former commander of the manticore knights." _Hiato turned his head to keep an eye on where he was flying but kept the conversation going _"Still, I don't see how that's a problem. In fact if she's on our side its a good thing."_

_"You don't understand. She's possibly the most terrifying person in the world. She was the one who taught me how to behave as a noble. And then there is my oldest sister Eleonore who, along with my mother, think I am a zero who because every spell I cast blows up." _Louise said, her voice in Hiato's head now sad as she remembered how her family, except for Cattleya, still considered her to be useless with regards to magic.

_"Well you're not a zero Louise, you never were." _Hiato said, and Louise could feel that he had a slight amount of anger building up "_And besides, you blowing stuff up actually is one of you're spells anyway."_

"_That doesn't help. I doubt they will believe me if I tell them blowing stuff up is actually a spell I cast, rather than the result of me trying to cast a spell. And that's not just it either... they also..." _She trailed off, suddenly feeling melancholy at remembering her families opinions of her.

_"They also what?"_ Hiato asked, and Louise could feel his anger rising "_Well... mother expects me to be the best mage there ever could be. I-I was always punished whenever I did something wrong when I was young. My mother was always trying to make me into the perfect noble. My sister always thought me going to the academy was a waste of time, and I should just get married to a rich noble or something like that..." _She trailed off.

Hiato was angry. Hearing how Louise's mother and oldest sister treated her when she was young, not only did it remind him of certain nobles he used to know (and hate) back in his world, but it also made him began to possibly hate Louise's mother and oldest sister. It also reminded him of how parent's sometimes don't care about their children's happiness.

"_Wait, do you have another sister?" _Hiato asked. Louise nodded but he didn't see it _"Her name's Cattleya. She doesn't think I'm useless, and really cares about me. She's the only one who thinks I have potential as a mage. She's the middle one between me and Eleonore" _She said. "_Right so your mother and oldest sister are stuck up nobles. Got it, gives me something to hate. What's exactly the problem then?"_

_"Don't talk about my mother and sister like that!"_ Louise snapped. She suddenly realised what she had said and started to feel very awkward. _"S-sorry... anyway, the problem is... well... its that they don't like commoners... and... you know..._

Hiato instantly realised the problem _"And they won't like me will they?"_

_"No they won't. In fact, they may not even see you as a person, because you are a familiar after all, and they will see you as just that."_

_"So when I meet them their going to treat me like you did when we first met?" _Hiato asked. He was a little surprised when he felt guilt coming from Louise, and he turned his head to see she had drooped her shoulders. _"Y-Yeah... like that..."_ She said, before looking at Hiato._ "I'm sorry about how I treated you at first. It was wrong, since after all you'd been through at that point, all I did was make you're life worse. It was selfish of me to try and treat you like a dog and less than human. I'm so sorry Hiato."_

Hiato's expression at first was surprised, but then it softened into a smile, his pointy teeth sticking out. _"It's fine. Considering how long people had been trying to kill me, being treated like a servant where no one really cared who or what I was in a way was better, since you weren't actively trying to kill me."_ He then let out a chuckle. _"You know, I don't know if I've said this before, but I owe you my life. So don't feel bad, you had no way of knowing what I'd been through before you summoned me. And besides..."_ he flashed her a massive toothy grin _"I love you now, so how you used to treat me doesn't matter, since I think you're the most amazing person I've met. Well, aside from myself of course."_

Louise went bright red, and a lump formed in her throat, but then she smiled. "_Thanks, and I love you too."_ She said before planting a kiss on Hiato's cheek. _"Don't worry, we'll deal with your family when we have to. For now, get some sleep."_ Almost as if it was a command, she wrapped her arms around his neck and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

After several hours of flight, Hiato and his friends arrived back at the academy. At first the large group of dragons accompanying the group had sent the message that the academy was under attack, but Hiato and the others had quickly landed and defused the situation. Upon arrival Osmond met them, and seemed to be, for a brief moment, relieved Hiato didn't seem to be there. That was cut short when Hiato reverted to normal and sparks started flying between him and the perverted old headmaster of the academy. Colbert, seeing the danger that Osmond was in as it appeared the dragons that had come with Hiato all seemed to be considering the possibility of roasted old wizard for lunch, quickly defused the situation by saying that they were relieved to have them back safe and sound, and asked about the dragons.

"They've agreed to join me and help fight against the Reconquista, the group responsible for both the rebellion and the order of the grand hunt. Viscount Wardes was a traitor, working for them and he had intended to kill Prince Wales and take Louise hostage. However, we managed to stop him and escape Albion with not only the letters but also Prince Wales." Hiato finished, deciding that giving a run-down of the entire time they were in Albion would save time. Osmond and Colbert seemed impressed "Excellent work. The princess will certainly be pleased with your efforts, along with the rescue of the Prince."

Almost as if on cue, Wales woke up and looked around wearily. He blinked and his eyes went as wide as plates, before his gaze shot to Hiato, where his expression was one of someone who'd just lost the key to their house. It quickly changed to anger and he jumped off Sylphid and charged at Hiato. He was clearly not amused by what Hiato and the others had done.

"What did you do!?" He roared at Hiato, who hadn't even flinched from his reaction. "Where am I? Why am I not back in Albion?" he demanded

"Simple. You're in Tristain. We rescued you. Against you're will. Probably could count as kidnapping if you looked at it right." Hiato said in a flat tone.

"WHY!? I told you I wished to remain behind in Albion and die alongside my comrades!" he snapped.

"Well they didn't want you to, considering you're the last of your family. They saw a way for you to escape, and when we approached them with our plan to save you, they agreed wholeheartedly. We didn't want you to die either, since then who could be king of Albion once this is all over?" Hiato put a hand on Wales shoulder "Listen, I know your angry. I know you wanted to stay behind and die with them but they didn't want you to. They wanted you to be able to live and not die a meaningless death, so that way one day you can do something good for others." Hiato said.

Suddenly his memories of that day came rushing back to him, how he had cried, how he had not wanted to leave his parents. He smiled to himself _Thanks Mom, Dad_ He thought fondly, finally appreciating how they had given their lives so he could live. He then noticed Wales giving him a strange look "What?" He asked. Wales then smiled sadly "You have a point. If they wanted me to live on, then I must honour their sacrifice by doing so, and ensuring the downfall of those who orchestrated the revolution. I apologize for my earlier behaviour."

"No need, I'm sorry I knocked you out the way I did." Hiato said, a smile on his face. Louise walked up, she was also smiling. "I also apologize you're highness, for myself and my familiar." She curtseyed. Wales shook his head "No, I need to thank you 2 for saving my life. Now then, I suppose we should go meet the Princess correct? She will want to know of your success." Everyone nodded "But first, I am guessing you will all want rest? I suggest you all leave tomorrow to tell the princess, no need to run yourselves ragged." Colbert said. Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche all nodded wearily.

"Where is the princess right now?" Hiato asked. "At the capital." Osmond replied, managing to keep an even tone. "Well I can take Louise and Wales right now, I'm not that tired." Hiato said, keeping an even tone as well. He figured it would be best to alert the princess to their success as soon as possible.

"She is at the capital right now. Professor Colbert will show you a map." Osmond said, still maintaining an even tone.

"Thank you." Hiato said. As he walked past the old man he whispered "This isn't over yet old man."

"You bet it isn't flame brain." Osmond muttered back. Hiato didn't even show any sign of hearing the insult and just kept walking.

After being told the directions, Hiato flew Louise and Wales to the capital. Upon arrival they were omitted immediately to the palace, where Henrietta was overjoyed to not only see Louise and Hiato alive, but Wales as well. After handing over the letters, Wales requested time alone to think over the deaths of his men, and so Henrietta spoke to Hiato and Louise in private. There they told her of the Reconquista rebellion, along with Wardes's betrayal along with how the Order and the Reconquista were connected. After absorbing this information, the princess had some very unsettling news to give to Louise.

"Your mother has summoned you back to your home Louise." The princess turned to Hiato. "That means you as well."

"Good. I wasn't going to let her go without me anyway." Hiato said, his face serious. Henrietta smiled, happy that Hiato cared so much for Louise.

After that, they spoke for a while and then said their farewells. Hiato and Louise were to head to Louise's home via horse cart, which made Hiato stir crazy since he'd have preferred to fly instead. However, the entire trip there, Louise practically spent the entire time hugging Hiato like he was a life-line.

"You stood up to Wardes, surely you can stand up to your mother?" Hiato asked, his arms around Louise. She shook her head. "That was different. Wardes wasn't family, and also I just... wasn't so scared of him." She looked up at him. "But with my mother it's different." she then started hugging Hiato as closely as she could. "I-I don't want to leave you! I don't want to live the rest of my life with a man I don't love! I-I just..." She trailed off, before Hiato hugged her closer.

"Don't worry. I won't let that happen." He said "And besides, you're mother might think twice the next time she chooses a husband for you." He then broke one arm free, tilted her head up and kissed her on the lips. They stayed like that for several seconds before breaking apart. They smiled at each other before continuing the hug. After a while, the driver announced they had arrived, so strapping Derf across his back, Hiato and Louise stepped out of the cart.

It was late evening when they arrived and Hiato looked around, surveying the estate. It was all very nice, well kept bushes, neatly trimmed lawns, and a drawbridge, which Hiato noted seemed to be the only land route out of the estate. As they neared the main building, Louise reluctantly let go of his hand, and Hiato saw the reason why. There were three women standing outside the door. Two of them possessed the same pink hair Louise had, but the last one had blond hair and wore glasses. The women with blond hair was on the right, the older looking women was in the middle, and the one who looked the most like Louise was on the left and she was the only one smiling.

"Welcome home Louise." the women in the middle said without a trace of a smile. "Hello, mother." Louise said in a mildly fearful voice. Her mother simply looked at her then looked at Hiato. "So this is you're familiar?" She asked. "Yes mother." Louise answered. Karin just regarded Hiato for a second before turning around and walking back inside. "We have much to discuss, but first say hello to your sisters." She said as she walked off.

"H-Hello Eleonore. Hello Cattleya." Louise said to the other two women. Eleonore looked at Louise and then looked at Hiato. "Hello Louise. Good to see at least one of you're spells didn't blow up in you're face, but I'm disappointed that you summoned a commoner. But I'm guessing since then all you're spells have failed?" She asked, her tone mocking Louise. Hiato just glared at Eleonore, his anger rising. "No they haven't" Hiato hissed. "In fact she's probably better than you." Eleonore however, simply looked at Hiato. "What's this? Does your familiar not know when to keep quiet? My my, you're more of a zero than I thought."

Hiato was about to reply when he saw Louise almost begging him with her eyes to keep quiet. Begrudgingly he kept quiet. Eleonore then turned around and walked inside and Louise let out a sigh of relief.

"I apologize for my sister's behaviour, but she just got out of an engagement so she isn't in the most sociable of moods." Cattleya said, addressing Hiato. She looked him up and down before smiling. "So you must be Louise's familiar. I'm Cattleya, Louise's middle sister. It is a pleasure to meet you...?" She said, leaving the question hanging.

"Hiato." He said, looking the women up and down. "Ah Hiato, it is a pleasure to meet my younger sister's familiar." She then looked at Louise. "I am sorry for their behaviour, but after hearing what you did when you went to Albion, they are... not seeing you in the best light right now. Eleonore was furious when she heard you went to Albion on a potentially life threatening mission."

"What of mother?" Louise asked, the most at ease with her middle sister.

"She was angry at first, but accepted the princesses decision, but didn't approve of it. She may want to speak to you about it." She then looked around. "Where is Viscount Wardes?" She asked.

Louise and Hiato exchanged a look, and Louise started speaking. "I think it is best I tell you in the presence of mother." She said quietly. Cattleya's face became one of confusion, and she looked at Hiato. "Very well then, let us join Mother and Eleonore, we have kept them long enough." Hiato moved up next to Louise, and brushed his hand against hers. She looked at him and smiled, and they began following Cattleya towards the dining room, with Hiato taking note of everything he saw as he walked through the building. He had seen a few noble houses in his life, but one thing he noticed is that despite how they may seem different, the underlying layout was the same.

In true Tristain aristocrat fashion, all the Valliere sister's had chairs while Hiato didn't. In fact Hiato didn't even have a meal waiting for him, and he was even told by Eleonore that if he wanted a meal, he could pick over the scraps afterwards outside. Hiato's dislike for the oldest Valliere sibling was growing each second.

"So Louise, where is your Fiancé?" Karin asked, looking at her youngest child who went stiff at the mention of Wardes. Hiato's eye twitched at the mention of Wardes, but he said nothing. "I heard he was sent on the mission with you. Tell me, why did he not return?"

"B-Because..." she started, suddenly very nervous. Hiato, who was leaning against the wall behind her chair noticed this. "Because... when we got to Albion he... he..." She took a deep breath. "He was working for the Reconquista, the group behind the revolution in Albion." She said quickly. The eyes of her relatives grew in size, but then her mother quickly recovered. "And? What then?" She asked, in what Hiato noticed wasn't a questioning tone but a commanding one.

"My familiar challenged him to a duel. Wardes broke the rules of the duel and attempted to kill Hiato but instead Hiato managed to defeat him." She said quickly, almost speaking without thinking. Her oldest sister gave Hiato a critical look and huffed. "How could a trashy commoner like him ever beat Viscount Wardes?" She asked, but the question seemed to be more aimed at mocking Hiato than getting an answer. Hiato gritted his teeth.

"Because he... he... he was stronger than Wardes..." Louise said quietly. Eleonore simply scoffed. "Unbelievable. A mere commoner shouldn't be able to beat a noble, much less a familiar." She said. "Now tell us Louise, what really happened?"

"That IS what happened." Hiato snapped, no longer able to deal with this. "I defeated him in a 1 on 1 duel."

"Silence familiar! Louise can't you even keep you're dog quie-" Eleonore started.

"I am not a dog. My name is Hiato not just famili-"

"I said silence!" Eleonore roared. "As I expected, you're familiar doesn't know its place. Just what I'd expect from a zer-"

"She is not a zero!" Hiato yelled, now advancing towards the table. "She is a very powerful mage and I don't want to hear you talking to her like-"

"I said be quiet!" Eleonore said, glaring at Hiato. "If I have to tell you one more ti-"

"ENOUGH!" Karin roared, switching between glaring at Hiato and glaring at Eleonore. "There will be silence at this table from now on. Louise..." she looked at her youngest child. "Send you're familiar to his room now, and order him to remain there for the rest of the evening." she commanded. Louise was about to turn around and say something when Hiato spoke in her mind. _"I heard her, where is it?"_ He asked. She gave him directions quickly. _"Thanks, oh and Louise?"_ She turned to look at him and saw him smiling softly. _"I Love you. See you tomorrow."_

_"I Love you too Hiato."_ She said back. Hiato walked across the room and left via the main door, following Louise's directions. Louise turned back to face her mother and sister. "Mother, could we leave this for tomorrow? Louise is very tired and I think she needs her rest."

"I agree, but her insubordinate little familiar must not be present, do you agree mother?" Eleonore asked. Her mother looked at her oldest daughter for a second, weighing up her answer. "I agree, he most certainly is very troublesome. Louise, I expected you to have more control over you're familiar, as well as make him more polite to his superiors." She said in a critical tone. "Tomorrow we will discuss you're trip to Albion, as well as finding you a new Fiancé." Louise chocked on her food at that.

"What?" She asked. "Yes. I must find you a new husband. While I do not believe Viscount Wardes was defeated by you're familiar I am willing to believe he is part of this 'Reconquista'. So finding you a husband is now a priority."

"But mother..." She started. Karin just glared at her. "What?" She demanded. Louise flinched. "Nothing." she said, and went back to eating her dinner.

"Also..." Her mother said, causing Louise to turn and look at her. "We will also be discussing you're familiar, but one thing in particular." Louise paled slightly. "What in particular?"

"You're relationship with him."

Louise went sheet white. This was not going to end well.

* * *

**And that's the chapter! I wanted to get so much more done in this one, but I guess I can get everything else done in the next chapter, which will be up on... (drum roll) tuesday! Anyway, please leave a review, hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading and see you next time!**

**Sayonara!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello and welcome to chapter 17! Not much for me to say this time, except I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

Louise was lying in bed, unable to get to sleep. After Hiato was "dismissed" from the dining hall, dinner had continued in silence and Louise had been sent to bed almost immediately. Hiato had been given another... well calling it a room wasn't perhaps appropriate. A cage would have been a better description. His room was far from the quarters of Louise and her family, it was closer to the servants sleeping area in fact.

Louise shifted herself for what felt like the 100th time. She was sharing a bed with Cattleya, who was fast asleep and while the bed was comfortable, it felt uncomfortable to Louise and was missing one critical thing to ensure Louise could fall asleep, and that thing was Hiato. He always slept in her bed, and she'd gotten so used to it that sleeping without him was impossible. She wanted to go to where he was, she wanted to fall asleep in his arms, but something was keeping her from doing that.

Fear and worry. Fear and worry about what would happen if she was caught either sneaking around or sleeping in the same bed with her familiar, in the dark, cold room he was currently located in. Her mother and older sister would be furious, and possibly kick Hiato off the estate all together and then keep her prisoner there until her mother found her a husband. If that were to happen, Hiato would probably attack the estate all on his own to rescue Louise. She smiled at the thought of her famili- no the boy she loved.

She shifted again, still thinking about Hiato. She shifted so she was lying on her back, and then again so that she was on her front, but this did little to help her fall asleep and ease her discomfort. She got fed up and then slammed her fists down onto the bed next to her, before sitting up.

"If you want to see him that badly then go." A voice said from behind Louise, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin and have a heart attack at the same time. Holding her chest, Louise turned around to see Cattleya looking at her with an amused smile. "W-what?" Louise stammered out.

"You know who I'm talking about, stop trying to play dumb." her sister said. "N-No I don't." Louise responded, causing Cattleya to roll her eyes in amusement. "I'm talking about you're familiar. I can tell you're not comfortable without him here so go to his room then. I can tell he means more to you than just you're servant." She said. Louise just blinked at her sister before she felt the heat rising in her face. "H-How did you know?" She asked.

"Because of how you 2 act around each other. I can easily see that you care about each other a lot, so go to him, I don't mind." She smiled softly. "Take some clothes with you for the morning, that should reduce the chance of you being caught."

"What if mother comes in here to wake you up and finds me gone?" Louise asked.

"I'll just tell her you got up early and went to take a look at the grounds. It HAS been a while since you were last here, so that excuse should satisfy her." Cattleya said. Louise nodded and got up, quickly gathering some clothes to wear the following morning. As she was about to walk out the door, she looked at her sister. "Please don't tell mother you know." Louise practically begged. Cattleya chuckled. "I won't say a word, but I'm sure it won't matter since you're going to be interrogated in the morning by mother." she said, smiling. "Goodnight Louise."

"Goodnight Cattleya, and thank you." Louise said before closing the door. She quickly made her way to Hiato's room, her heart beating so loud she was surprised it didn't wake anyone else up. After creeping/sprinting through the corridors of her home, she reached Hiato's door, which was large and made out of wood, with bars set in it for a window. She slowly opened the door, and took in the room inside. Aside from a pile of hay in front of the opposite wall, which currently had a dragonoid we all know and love snoozing on it, there was no other furniture inside the room. There was a window above Hiato, which had bars in it and moonlight streaming in. Louise closed the door behind her.

She put her clothes down and walked over to Hiato, who seemed to be fast asleep. There was a blanket, but it was currently lying next to Hiato on the floor. Louise smiled looking down at him, and she picked up the blanket and shook it a little, getting some of the dust off of it. She then turned around and was about to lie down when she saw a green eye looking up at her.

"Couldn't you get in trouble for this?" He asked in an amused voice. Louise stiffened and nodded slowly. "So why are you here then?" he asked.

"Because..." She blushed, and started playing with the edges of the blanket in her hands. "...I can't fall asleep unless... you're..." she stammered. Hiato's eyebrow just went up, and his face adopted an amused look.

"Unless I'm what?" he asked. "Unless you're... you're..." Louise said, still playing with the blanket in her hands. "... in the same bed with me..." She said softly but Hiato heard it. He just grinned. "Good to see I'm not the only one who feels that way." He said. Louise started, and blinked at Hiato several times, her blush deepening. Hiato also had tinges of red on his cheeks. "I've been lying here for about half an hour, and no matter how hard I try, I can't fall asleep without you next to me." He smiled. "It just doesn't feel right without you sleeping in my arms."

Louise blushed even more before smiling. "Good to hear." She said, before lying down next to him and throwing the blanket over them. They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed deeply. They broke apart after a while, both their faces red.

"I love you Louise."

"I love you too Hiato."

They both smiled before Louise snuggled closer, her head resting against his shoulder. He ran a hand through her pink hair and started to play with it. Louise looked up at Hiato, and decided to ask him something.

"What were you're parents like?" she asked. "I-I mean if you're OK with telling me, it's just you've never really told me about them..." Louise said, feeling awkward now. _Dammit, why would you ask something like that!? It's obvious he doesn't want to-_

"It's fine. You're right, I know about you're family but you know basically nothing about mine so I'll tell you." Hiato said, looking down at Louise with a smile. "Hang on." She said, before sitting up and then turning around to look at Hiato. "Carry on." she said.

"Well for starters I was an only child. Dragonoids tend to only have one off spring per family. My father was Draidos, a very powerful red scale dragon. He was very adventurous, brave, funny, charming and always loved going new places. Until he met my mother and married her, he never spent more than a few months in any given place. After they got married, which was actually 20 years before I was born, my Mom managed to calm his sense of adventure somewhat. He was also fiercely loyal to my Mom, and loved her more than anyone else in the world. " Hiato said, a fond smile on his face.

"My mother was Weriece, a very powerful and intelligent green dragon. Yes there are more than just red and blue dragons, there's dragons for all the colours but that's not important right now, and I'm a red dragon cause my father was red, boys inherit their scale colour from their father, and girls from their mothers. Anyway back to my mother, she was lovely. She was kind, caring, loving, and just amazing. She is also the most beautiful person I have ever met, both as a human and a dragon. I don't know how my parents met each other, but apparently it was love at first sight. I miss them..." Hiato said, sounding a little sad. Louise leaned over and rested her hand on top of Hiato's, not saying anything.

"What exactly happened to you're parents?" She asked. Hiato stiffened a bit, before looking at Louise. "They were killed by the dragon's watch, a group dedicated to the extermination of dragons back where I'm from. More specifically by Sir Arthur Kingsley, their commander, using the dragon slaying sword Burncaliber." Hiato said, anger clear in his voice after mentioning Kingsley.

Louise just stared at Hiato. "W-Why?" She asked. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"Because of a stupid prophecy, that's why. As far as I know, I'm the last of my kind." Hiato said, sounding disgusted.

"What prophecy?" Louise asked.

"Some prophecy about how Draggosh's 1000th son will have the soul of the dragon emperor, or god depending on you're viewpoint, reborn inside them and have access to his power. And I only know one part of it, because it's the part that got my parent's killed and resulted in me being hunted for 7 years. It went as follows 'And so the 1000th son of the emperor will rise up and bring low the one who claims to be king of all the land'. Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? And so the king and the king before him and the king before him and so on thought this meant whoever this was would de-throne them, so they started killing off the dragon's slowly. Eventually there were so few left they just went on a full scale campaign of extermination. My mother and father were hunted as well, even more so after they had me, so I guess you could say I've been on the run all my life."

Louise was gaping at Hiato, shocked at what she had just heard. She was processing everything he had just said, but the one thing that stood out was the bit about the prophecy. It had caused Hiato grief, pain and loss, and for all anyone knew it could have just been a joke someone wrote down once and called "prophecy".

"W-Why would they believe it?" she asked. "It could have just been a joke someone wrote down, or the ramblings of a mad man, or even just someone trying to scare the kings!"

"Because they were stupid, that's why. I don't believe it myself, since he was a blue dragon, his descendants should also be blue dragons. Anyway, thanks to that my parents moved around every so often, sometimes they would move villages several times a month. Once I was born they tended to pick more isolated villages, but even then we would have to move sometimes." Hiato said. "At the time I didn't understand, in fact I found to exciting to tell you the truth. Then there was that day..." He trailed off. Louise saw the sad look on his face and leaned over, planting a kiss on his cheek. He smiled at her.

"I guess I'll tell you." he took a deep breath. "We were in a small little village called Gaia whe-" Suddenly Hiato stopped talking. Before Louise could say or do anything he was on his feet, Derf in hand and hurtling towards the door. He slammed it open and looked left and right quickly, and caught a glimpse of a shadow when he looked left. He cursed, and tightened his grip on Derf _Wasn't fast enough, he got away._ He said to himself. He was about to begin pursuit when Louise appeared in the doorway.

"Hiato what happened?" She asked.

"Someone was eavesdropping on us and they must have stepped on a stone or something because I heard a noise." he explained. Louise raised an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't hear anything."

"I spent years honing my ears to pick up the faintest of noises, and my dragon senses have enhanced it further. I could probably hear a needle drop in an empty room through a door."

Louise looked down the corridor. "Who was it?"

"Didn't get a good look, but I doubt it was any of you're family. Could be a servant... or someone else."

Louise looked alarmed. "Someone else?" She asked, confused.

"We know both the Reconquista and The Order are after us, they could have a spy here... or an assassin. Either way, it looks like they probably heard our whole conversation." He turned to look at her. "We should get some sleep, it's getting late. I'll finish telling you another time." He said, his voice serious. She nodded, and they walked back to the hay and lied down on it, wrapped in each others arms. Derf was acting as a sentry, and was ready to yell at a moments notice to alert the two if someone came in.

"I'm scared." Louise said. "I'm scared about tomorrow... what should I tell my mother?" She asked. "Tell her the truth. Convince her that you don't need her to give you a husband and that you can find one on you're own. Tell her to stop trying to control every aspect of you're life" Hiato responded. "But what if it won't work?" She asked. "And... what if I'm too scared to disagree with her He just smirked. "Well then, I guess I need to start thinking of an escape plan, don't I?" He remarked. Louise, despite herself, giggled before kissing Hiato goodnight, and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Louise was sitting in the dining hall again. It was the next morning and she had just finished her breakfast. Hiato had met the head chef and managed to convince him to give him more than just scraps. Louise looked left, right then forward. Cattleya was standing on her left, Eleonore on her right, and her mother was sitting in a chair in front of her. Louise herself was standing. It was time for the grand inquisition to begin, and Louise was nervous. Cattleya was calm, as was Karin, but Eleonore was barely suppressing a look of eager anticipation. Louise knew why, Eleonore would be expecting her to crack under the pressure, and agree with whatever their mother said. But Louise wanted to prove her wrong, she needed to. Just like how she stood up to Wardes, she needs to stand up to her mother and Oldest sister.

"Well Louise, I guess we should begin. Firstly tell us everything of you're trip to Albion, every single detail." Louise nodded, and glanced to her left to see Cattleya giving her a reassuring smile. Louise took a deep breath. "Well at first..." And so she told them nearly everything about the trip. She left out the part of her and Hiato confessing their love. She became apprehensive when she reached the duel, not sure if she should tell her family about Hiato's real powers. _Tell her the truth_ Hiato's words echoed in her mind "_Do what he said."_ Another voice she recognized said in her mind. And so she began describing the fight, not speaking it like a hero's epic or a historical battle, but she said what she had seen and how it had happened. She smirked inwardly when she saw the looks of surprise on her mother and oldest sister's face at the description of his dragonoid powers. Once she was done, a silence fell upon them.

"So you are telling me, that you're familiar is some kind of human-dragon hybrid?" Her mother asked after what seemed like an eternity. Louise quickly nodded. Karin slowly nodded, she was digesting this new information. "I've never heard of such a familiar before... he certainly sounds exceptional..." Louise blinked, unsure if she had just misheard what her mother had just said. Eleonore however, was furious.

"Exceptional? Mother he sounds like some kind of freak. A human who can absorb fire, transform into a dragon and what not? It sounds ridiculous. Clearly Louise was seeing things at the time." Eleonore stated.

"I believe Louise is telling the truth." Cattleya said, standing up for Louise. "Really? Well then, I guess that classify's him as an abomination then. Mother I suggest we put the poor thing down, and then have Louise leave the academy."

"NO!" Louise yelled at her. "He is not an abomination or a freak! He really is an Animas, a species that is in middle between animals and people! When he's human, he's completely human. When he's a dragon, he's completely a dragon!" She said. Eleonore just scoffed. "He is a freak of nature. There is no such thing as a dragon that is capable of turning into a hum-"

"Eleonore are you forgetting about rhyme dragons?" Their mother suddenly snapped. "Some of them possess the ability, I have seen it myself." She then turned to Louise. "Very well, I am willing to accept that you're familiar is... exceptional as well as him beating Wardes in combat. Now then, what is you're relationship with him?" Her mother said, looking intently at Louise.

Now Louise was even more nervous. Her mother had, even though she hadn't said it, been reluctant to accept what Louise had said. She knew that the possibility of her accepting the feelings she had for Hiato was very low, but she would try anyway.

"Well mother... I..." She said slowly. She glanced at Cattleya, who simply gave a reassuring smile, encouraging Louise to continue. She took a deep breath and started speaking. "I... I... care about him a lot... and I think he may be a good future husband for me..."

The reactions of Karin and Eleonore would be priceless if Louise wasn't currently being interrogated. Eleonore looked like she'd been told Christmas had been cancelled and Karin had the expression of someone who just found out their entire house had been knocked down and paved over. Eleonore was the first to recover.

"PREPOSTEROUS! That... THING that... lowly commoner... that FAMILIAR? As a HUSBAND!?" She demanded. "Is he using some kind of spell on you? Hypnotizing you or controlling you're feelings in some way? There is no way that BOY is a good husband for you!"

Karin recovered, and too added in, but wasn't nearly as loud. "I agree. Marrying a familiar is not something a noble should even consider! Louise, do you have any idea how much shame that will bring? Marrying a lowlife like him? I would disown you if such a thing were to ever happen."

_"If I wasn't angry enough to smash SEVERAL mountains to pieces, I would laugh at that. Louise, do me a favour and try to convince them that Hiato is the perfect husband for you, before I find a way to physical manifest myself and rip you're oldest sister and mother to pieces." _The same booming voice that Louise occasionally heard said to her, anger and irritation clear in its voice.

"It would also be cross species! That _boy_ is certainly not human, and the result of such a thing could be an even worse abomination. No Louise, please snap out of this stupidity, he is not a good husband for you." Eleonore said.

Louise looked at her older sister and before she could stop herself she spoke. "Oh yeah? And what's you're idea of a 'good' husband for me?" She snapped, suddenly finding her fear gone to be replaced with annoyance.

Eleonore looked taken aback by Louise's tone. "Louise, do not take that tone with me!" She snapped back. "And to answer you're question, someone who is wealthy, of high privilege and a noble."

"So you mean someone you can marry me off to and then get money off later?" Louise asked. She wasn't afraid of her mother or sister any more, she just found them annoying. "Basically just marrying me off to some rich or high status person who probably doesn't even care about me at all, and probably is just in the marriage for a different reason. Does the name Viscount Wardes ring any bells?" She asked sarcastically. "You're idea of a 'good' or 'perfect' husband is my idea of a living hell."

Her mother stood up, her eyes boiling with anger. "Now listen here Louise-" she stated, her voice seething with anger.

"No, why don't YOU listen for once!?" Louise shouted, causing her mother to pause. "Why don't you listen to ME for once? Instead of YOU trying to run MY life why don't you let ME run it for once?!" Louise yelled. She then looked at Eleonore. "And YOU! I'm not a zero, I'm not a failure, I SUMMONED THE MOST AMAZING FAMILIAR POSSIBLE, SOMETHING YOU COULD NEVER DO!" She screamed at her oldest sister. Cattleya was, for lack of a better word, stunned by Louise's sudden outburst.

"LOUISE!" Her mother roared. "DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OR ELEONORE IN THIS MANNER!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Louise screamed back. "I've had enough of you decided what YOU think is the best for me, I've had enough of you decided who my husbands going to be, I want to decide, BECAUSE THE LAST TIME YOU DECIDED WHO IT WAS GOING TO BE HE ALMOST KIDNAPPED ME AND KILLED THE PERSON I LOVE!" she roared, tears now forming in her eyes.

Her mother and Eleonore just stared at her, wide eyed and jaws dropped. "D-Did you just-"

"YES I SAID I LOVE HIM!" Louise screamed. "HE is the perfect husband for me, not some rich noble who doesn't care about me or someone who's just in a high position in government somewhere, its him, BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT WHAT I WANT! UNLIKE YOU, HE CARES ABOUT MY HAPPINESS, NOT HIS OWN!" And with that, Louise turned and sprinted for the door, slamming it behind her as she got through, leaving her sisters and mother in stunned silence.

She started running down the corridor and was looking for Hiato, who had spent the whole time she was being interrogated looking around for clues to the man who was eavesdropping on them last night. He had found nothing at all, and was rather annoyed about the whole thing. Louise burst out the front door, and looked around. _"Hey um... Louise? Sorry about that, I think me being so pissed off must have affected you in some way... sorry."_ The loud booming voice said, sounding rather sorry. Louise's reply slightly surprised it._ "I don't really care. Actually thanks, otherwise I might never have said any of that stuff, which they needed to hear."_ She thought back, now running again.

_"Well you could get into big trouble... and I doubt screaming at them like you did will help the situation at all. But still, I have to say one thing."_

_"What?"_ Louise asked.

_"Shots fired. And good to see you're growing up."_ Was all the voice said before cutting off. Louise stopped running and was now walking, and her heart jumped when she saw Hiato sitting on a bench, looking rather annoyed.

"HIATO!" She yelled, before she started running again. His reaction was instant, he was on his feet and looked around quickly until he saw Louise. "Louise?" He said, sounding confused. "What ha-"

Before he could say any more, she grabbed him and started crying into his chest. "I'm not going to leave you! I don't care what anyone says. I never want to leave you!" She said between sobs. Hiato put his arms around her, and gently sat down, cradling her in his arms. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He said, trying to calm her down. "I know! But mother think's she knows best, and won't want me to be with you! Eleonore thinks you're some kind of freak! Please..." She said, looking up at Hiato. "Please convince them, tell them SHOW them why it is I love you, MAKE them accept you PLEASE!" she begged. Hiato looked up and saw Karin approaching with a slightly shaken Cattleya on the left and a furious looking Eleonore on the right.

"Relax, I'll handle this." Hiato said, smiling at Louise. He gently kissed her on the lips. She immediately started to relax. "A-are you sure?" She asked. Hiato nodded. "I can handle it, don't worry. And besides, we always have plan B." He said, sounding serious. He put Louise on the bench before standing up and walking over to Karin and the other 2. Once he was within 10 meters of them he stopped. Eleonore was glaring daggers at him and so was Karin. Cattleya just tried to look relaxed.

"See this?" Hiato suddenly said, pointing at Louise. "THIS is what you've done to her. By trying to make her happy, by trying to do what YOU think is right for her, you've caused her more pain than happiness." He said bluntly. "Why you, who are you to talk to us lik-" Karin started.

"Who am I? I am Hiato, and I am her familiar. It's my job to ensure that she is safe, happy and secure. I've managed to make her those three things more since I got here than you ever have in you're whole life. All you've ever done is criticize and tease and insult her, instead of trying to help. I can make her happy and safe, unlike you."

Eleonore was seething. "Why you familiar... do you know who you are talking-"

"I know EXACTLY who I am talking to. 2 people who believe they are always in the right and everything they say should be considered solid gold. Well let me ask you something, are you perfect?" Hiato snapped, looking between Karin and Eleonore. "Well are you? YOU speak of the 'perfect' husband or being the 'perfect' noble, but do you really know what that is, and who are YOU to decide what is perfect for someone ELSE, who may have a different view on things to you."

Karin and Eleonore just stared at Hiato. Both of them wanted to reply, but Hiato was giving them the verbal thrashing of their lives.

"Well I'm waiting. Are either of you perfect?" He asked, tapping his foot impatiently, his arms crossed. Both of the women slowly shook their heads. "My point exactly, how can you decide what makes a person perfect when you aren't perfect yourselves? Also who are YOU to decided the future of another person, who hasn't even been given a chance to voice their opinion on it?"

He looked between them. Cattleya, who had been left out, was just gawking at the things Hiato were saying. All of them true mind you, but he had managed to shut them both up.

"You're pathetic, both of you." Hiato blurted out suddenly. Karin glared at him. "What did you-"

"I called you pathetic, got a problem with it? You say you think what you are doing is "for her future happiness" but look at her now. Is she happy? No, so what makes you think she'll be happy further along down the line? Also, thinking that you know what's best for someone else's future can be incredibly dangerous, I remember a certain Viscount whom she was engaged to who tried to kidnap her. Doesn't reflect very well on you're ability to judge a character does it?" Hiato said. Karin just looked at him. "Oh? And what do you suggest?"

"Listen to Louise for once. She knows better than anyone what will make her happy. I don't care what you have to say, that is the truth. Now, will you listen to her?" He asked, his face and tone serious. Karin looked to be in the middle of an internal conflict. She was considering all Hiato had said. Eleonore noticed this, and looked at her mother, begging her not to make the decision she thought she was about to. After what seemed like hours, Karin let out a long sigh.

"Very well then. I shall respect my youngest daughters wishes in this regard. However..." She then raised a finger and pointed it at Hiato. "If you so much as harm her, or prove yourself unworthy, I will personally come and take her back, is that clear?"

"Crystal." Hiato said, smirking.

"Mother, you can't be-" Eleonore started.

"My decision is final Eleonore. However I DID make it _very_ reluctantly. Now we must just see if Hiato is up to the test." She looked at the familiar, who was smirking.

"Oh trust me, I am. 100%"

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Sorry to any of you who wanted Hiato to fight Eleonore and Karin, but I felt like the verbal thrashing made up for it, dont you? Anyway, please leave a review, and I will see you in the next chapter!**

**Bye bye!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello there and welcome to chapter 18! Firstly, YAY OVER 50 reviews! YAY over 50 followers! YAY over 15000 views! and YAY nearly 50 favourites! Whoopee that is awesome, thanks to all of you reading this! I never thought my story would get THIS popular. Thanks again to everyone whos read, reviewed, favourited and/or followed! Now then, enough of me, lets get on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I Do not own FOZ**

* * *

Hiato walked away from the smiling Cattleya, the fuming Eleonore and the resigned Karin, and was approaching where Louise was. He was feeling a sense of smug satisfaction along with happiness because of his success at convincing Karin to listen to what Louise wanted. Of course that meant once Karin asked Louise who she wanted to marry, she would immediately choose him. He didn't mind really, he loved Louise and the idea of spending the rest of his life with her wasn't one you could call unpleasant.

Not to mention having kids and doing all the things that only married people-

Hiato froze, blinked, and then blushed at his sudden train of thought. He quickly shook his head to clear away the... inappropriate thoughts he was about to have. He started walking again, approaching Louise who had a shocked look on her face. His smirk changed to a smile as he got closer and then he sat down next to her, and then raised an eyebrow.

"What? You look like you've seen a ghost." He said playfully. Louise stared at him for a few more seconds before she snapped out of her shock by quickly shaking her head. Her eyes were still slightly red from all the crying she'd done. "D-Did you..." she asked, her voice both fearful and hopeful. Hiato looked at the ground and took a deep breath, and saw Louise tensing up. For dramatic effect, he released the breath slowly. "Louise, I don't know how to tell you thus but..." he looked at her, his expression serious. "... I won." he finished.

For a few seconds, Louise's expression didn't change. Then when she finally processed the words, her eyes went as wide as plates. "You don't mean..."

"I'm now technically you're fiancé, since you're mother agreed to respect you're decision. However I have to prove I'm 'worthy' of you." Hiato said, a smile spreading across his face. Louise just looked at him before she threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him as tightly as she could, and he returned the gesture. After a bit, she broke the hug and looked at his face, a smile on her lips. She then grabbed his hand, and stood up, confusing him.

"Come on, I want to show you something." Was all she said.

Hiato simply stood up and followed her, well rather he was dragged along behind her. Eventually they reached a lake, and she stopped at a small jetty with a boat tied to it. She motioned for him to get into it and he did so, quickly followed by the pinkette. After they were both on, she untied the rope and push the boat out onto the lake. She hadn't said a thing, and Hiato was wondering why she would drag him onto a boat like this. Not that he minded them being together alone, its just he isn't all too fond of water.

"Thank you." She said, breaking him out of his thoughts. He looked at her to see the most sincere smile on her face he had seen. He just blinked in response, surprised at how beautiful she looked with that smile on her face. " Thank you for saving me from Wardes, thank you for talking to my mother and convincing her to let me make my own choices. I may not say it a lot, but I really mean it. Again I'm sorry for how badly I treated you before. I owe you so much that I don't know if I could ever make it up to you. So again, thank you Hiato. You really are the most amazing famili- no person I have ever met. I'm really glad I summoned you, instead of anything else. Nothing else could ever replace you." She said, smiling.

Hiato looked at her, a blush creeping across his face. He then smiled. "Thanks for that Louise. And you're the most amazing person I've ever met. I'm glad you summoned me to this world, and don't worry, you don't owe me anything. I don't do things and expect favours out of it, I do it because I just want to help, and in you're case I do them because I love you. Plus I owe you my life for bringing me to this world in the first place." He said, smiling. Louise now had a tinge of red on her cheeks as well, but she was also pouting.

"But I should do something! I mean it's not fair if you do all these things for me and I don't do anything back!" She said, still pouting, which Hiato found adorable. _Well if she wanted to we could always..._

Hiato blinked and his face went bright red, before he quickly shook his head. _Don't think about stuff like that! God what is wrong with me today?_ He said to himself, before looking at Louise, and an idea popped into his head.

"Louise, there's one thing you can do for me." He said. Louise looked at him intently, and nodded, indicating she wanted to hear what it was.

"Smile." was all he said, confusing Louise.

"Smile?" She asked.

"Yep, just smile." He said, smiling. "Whenever I see you smile, it makes me happy. You don't need to buy me gifts or anything or do anything special for me, all you have to do is smile. Since I think it's the most beautiful thing in the world, seeing it is all I need." He said. Louise had turned into a tomato at his compliment (colour-wise not ACTUALLY into a tomato) and was unsure how to answer, her heart feeling like it was about to explode out her chest from the compliment. After a while she managed to stammer out a reply. "T-Thanks Hiato." She said, smiling and trying to calm her heart down. "That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

Hiato looked offended. "Are you saying my previous compliments weren't good enough?"

She giggled at his reaction, and then giggled again at his reaction to her giggling. "I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that one was the best. All of them were good, but that one was probably one of the best." Hiato raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I've said _something_ better than that." he said

She shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not, is anyone really keeping track?" She asked.

"The readers probably are." Hiato responded. He was then violently slapped.

"Hiato! No 4th wall breaking!"

"Sorry." he quickly responded, holding his cheek. Then both of them _mysteriously_ forgot what had just happened, and sat there in silence. Louise reached out her hands to hold Hiato's, her hands sliding into his and closing firmly around them. She looked up at him, a small blush forming on her cheeks.

"Hiato..." she said. He looked up, into her eyes.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I love you." She said, smiling at him.

"I love you too." He responded.

They slowly started leaning closer to each other and slowly began closing their eyes. They let go of each others hands and wrapped them around each others backs before their lips made contact, both of them leaning into a deep kiss. They stayed locked together for what felt like hours, before they slowly broke apart, both of their faces red, but smiles on their lips. Then they kissed again, even deeper this time, trying to pull each other as close as they physically could. Louise gently pushed Hiato over, and he only realised she was doing anything once he landed on his back, Louise on top of him. This of course immediately sent his brain into overdrive, and he felt his heart begin to beat faster. Louise was directly on top of him, their mouths still pressed together.

The kiss broke, and Hiato let out a small mental sigh of relief. Louise was looming over him, her face red but a smile on her lips. "Sorry, didn't mean to push you over." She said. "Guess I got carried away." She scooted off him, allowing him to sit up.

"Can't really blame you. I am irresistible after all." Hiato said, sounding cocky. Louise just stuck her tongue out at him before they both laughed. Once they stopped, she moved over and wrapped her arms around him, and he did likewise. They sat there for a while, just enjoying each others company. A few hours passed, and they just sat there, either making small talk or just looking around or at each other.

"I guess we should get off this thing eh?" Hiato asked, looking down at Louise who was starting to get sleepy after cuddling for about 30 minutes. "N-No... too warm... don't want to move..." came her grumbled reply. Hiato just chuckled and managed to free himself from Louise's grasp. She then reached out and grabbed him, attempting to pull him back into cuddling. "No... snuggle dragon no go..." She said, sounding like a 3 year old. Hiato couldn't help but grin at her antics, even though she was basically trying to imprison him in her arms, which isn't the worst thing in the world but right now something else is nagging-

_***GROWL**__*****_

The sound was enough to shake Louise out of her sleepy state and she quickly looked around, trying to identify the source of the noise.

_***GROWL**__*****_

Whatever it was, it was close and she could feel the boat vibrating slightly from it. She then looked at Hiato, who was looking both sheepish and embarrassed. "Um Louise... I think I might be..."

_***GROWL**__*****_

Louise looked at him for a few seconds before she laughed. Hiato's expression changed to an annoyed one. "Don't laugh." He said, his expression serious. It didn't work on Louise, as she just kept laughing. She then stopped before smiling slyly. "What's more important to you, food or me?" She asked.

Hiato just looked at her in shock. "Um... well... err..." He stammered, looking both confused and alarmed. "err... I don't... err..."

Louise just laughed again before kissing him on the cheek. "Come on, lets get you some food."

After moving the ship back to the pier, they tied it up before walking to the main building, holding each others hands. Cattleya was standing at the entrance, almost like she had been waiting for them. She smiled when they walked up to her. The 2 didn't bother letting go of each others hands.

"Thank you." She said, catching them both off guard. The words were directed at Hiato however.

"Um... no problem?" He said, confused by her words. "Why are you thanking me? I just basically yelled at you're older sister and mother." He asked.

Cattleya let out a sigh before smiling again. "Because mother has always been oblivious to what we really want, instead just doing what she thinks is right. I thank you for talking some sense into her and allowing Louise to do what she wants." She gave a slight bow before standing up straight. "Lunch has been served, and Hiato... you have a seat at the table." They all started walking into the building towards the dining hall.

Hiato and Louise quickly looked at Cattleya before they looked at each other and then back to Cattleya. "I'm guessing Eleonore wasn't happy."

Cattleya's expression became a tired one. "No she wasn't. She refused to even sit at the table with you present, and is currently in her room if I am correct."

"Why have I suddenly been given a seat at the table anyway?" Hiato asked.

"Mother feels that it would not be appropriate for her youngest daughters future husband to eat scraps from the kitchen. Although I have been told to warn you that if you do not act appropriately, you will be kicked out of the dining hall at once." she said in a neutral tone. Hiato shrugged. "Sounds good, I guess." He then turned to see Louise staring at him intently. "Uh... Louise?" He asked, shying away from her gaze slightly.

"Keep you're eating under control. If you eat like you normally do, mother will think I chose a savage for my husband and I doubt that will help raise her opinion of you." She said seriously before smiling. "Please dear, if its not too much to ask." She then said in a sweet sounding voice. Hiato nodded quickly, and they arrived at the hall.

After sitting down and eating for a while in silence, with Hiato eating like a civilised person by some miracle, Karin suddenly spoke up.

"You 2 will remain here for the next 3 days in order to rest. Once they are over, you will head back to the academy. During this time you may do as you wish, so long as you do not leave the Estate grounds." She said, not even looking at them. Hiato narrowed his eyes at her, and then looked at Louise, who had a similar look of confusion on her face. He then looked back at Karin, who then stopped eating again to look at him.

"Oh one thing I should mention Hiato." She said, her face still neutral. "You have to propose to Louise in order for her to become you're fiancé. However..." She shot him a dangerous look. "... if it is anything short of spectacular, I will be having a _very_ lengthy discussion with you, are we clear?" She asked.

"Crystal." Hiato responded. _Guess I have to start planning the proposal. Oh well we have a few days of rest to..._ Suddenly something inside his mind clicked, and he figured out just what the three days of rest were for.

"_It's to watch us."_ He said to Louise.

_"What?"_ She asked.

_"She's given- no rather 'ordered' us to stay here for three days not only so we can get rest but also so that she can watch us, and either make sure I am 'worthy' of being you're husband or just try and find an excuse to kick me out and get you married off."_ He explained. He could feel Louise thinking over what he had said. He could then feel amusement coming from her. "_Well then, I guess we should just show her how much we love each other."_ He quickly glanced at her and raised an eyebrow when he saw her smirking, but said nothing about it. Once they finished, they walked of the hall and into the grounds again.

"So... what do you want to do?" Hiato asked after they had been walking for a few minutes. Louise put a finger to her chin and assumed an expression of deep thought. Then she snapped her fingers and looked at him.

"We could walk around the grounds and then spend some time sitting under trees. Then maybe you could fly me around for a bit!" She said, smiling. Hiato assumed an expression of thought, before shrugging. "Sure, why not?" he said. Smiling, the couple held each others hands and started walking at a fairly slow pace, make idle small talk as they explored the estate. After a while, they sat down underneath an Oak tree and Louise immediately snuggled up to Hiato, who just chuckled.

"Do you always have to get so close?" He asked, his voice teasing. Louise's face went a little red before she answered. "Hey I like doing this. You're body is just so warm and cuddly, I can't help myself." She then looked up at his face. "What, do you have a problem with it?" She asked.

"Yes I do. A very serious one." Before she could ask, he kissed her deeply on the lips. When he broke off he had smirk on his face. "Because doing that is a lot harder when you're heads pressed into my chest." Louise giggled, electing a look from Hiato. She dead panned. "Oh come on, you've heard me giggle quite a few times now, it can't still be weird can it?" She asked exasperated. Hiato just mumbled "... still sounds unnatural..." Louise just rolled her eyes before an idea popped into her head and she gave Hiato a deep kiss, pressing him against the tree and pinning his arms by his sides. He found himself unable to move, and somehow Louise had a grip of steel, keeping him pinned.

_"What are you doing?"_ He asked.

_"Playing a game."_ She responded._ "Here are the rules. If you can figure out what I want, I'll let you go."_

Hiato's mind, much to his displeasure, immediately thought of all the more... interesting possibilities of what she meant. He then felt her lips curl into a smile. "_No Hiato, nothing that exciting. Well... not yet..."_ She said, her voice teasing. Hiato's face immediately turned as red as his scales, and it felt like it was on fire. Louise broke the kiss and started laughing, and then looked at the grumpy look on Hiato's face and started laughing even harder.

"Since when did you like teasing me like this?" He demanded. Louise stopped laughing and looked at him slyly.

"Hey, you were the one who thought of those things, not me." She said. "Some of them were very... interesting." Hiato's face exploded into an even deeper blush, causing Louise to fall over again laughing. Hiato just glared at Louise before he also let out a small chuckle. Once she calmed down, she sat down next to him, leaning against the Oak tree next to him, holding his hand. The two looked each other in the eyes, smiled and then closed their eyes to enjoy a peaceful nap, but just before Louise fell asleep, she snuggled up against Hiato, wrapping one arm around his neck and the other around his back, before closing her eyes.

* * *

There was a cart travelling along the road to the Valliere estate. The driver was a regular looking man, nothing exceptional about him at all. The one sitting inside the cart however, was certainly not ordinary. He had black greasy hair that came down to his shoulders; his face was very long and sunken, almost looking lifeless but having a very malicious look to it. Then there were his eyes, grey and filled with evil. He was currently wearing a black cape and hood, which was not drawn over his head and looked old and flayed.

He was currently looking at a scroll of parchment that contained his reason for being in the cart as well as heading towards the Valliere estate. He was smirking at how easy the job was, but also how HE would be the one to get to do it. He had thought the dragon runt had escaped his reach when he and Sir Arthur had found themselves in this world, but after seeing his little 'display' at the academy, the anger he had originally felt had changed to almost sadistic glee. What was even better was that with Arthur currently planning the invasion of Tristain, he needed someone to eliminate the little runt before he became a serious problem. Of course this man in the cart had volunteered at once for the task.

_Eliminate the dragon boy and his little 'master' by any means you deem necessary. If anyone gets in you're way, kill them. Head straight for the border with Galia upon completion of the mission. Failure is not an option._ He stopped reading and smirked again. He swept his arm out to reveal what he was wearing underneath the cloak. It was essentially just a chain mail shirt, and his sword belted at his side. The sword was different however to other normal long swords, as it had a glowing red gem placed in the hilt. He drew the sword and looked it up and down, noticing the faint red glow on the blade. He smiled, he meant he was getting closer. Dragon slayer weapons, they only had this one and Arthur's blade, Ascalon.

He looked back to the parchment, and read the final words on the document.

_... Failure is not an option. Ensure you carry this duty out quickly and efficiently. I expect nothing less of you, my second in command._

_Signed: Sir Arthur Kingsley, Knight commander of the Dragons watch and leader of the Reconquista._

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**And that's the chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it, and please leave a review telling me what you thought! With the whole Louise teasing Hiato thing, I just felt like doing that and I hope you guys enjoyed it. I also hope you enjoyed the boat bit I did. I admit, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I'm going to have a lot of fun writing the next one, cause an original villain is introduced AND you get an idea of just how much I've changed the FOZ world for this story. Anyway, Thanks for reading and I will see you, in the next chapter!**

**Buh-bye!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello and welcome to chapter 19! Not much to say this time, except I hope that you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

The cart stopped just out of sight of the gates into the Valliere Estate. The man in the back jumped out before handing the driver a bag filled with money. The driver took it before turning his cart around and moving off down the road away from the Estate. The driver had been paid a hefty sum to keep quiet about this little journey. At first he had hesitated, but then the offered sum was doubled and he'd simply shut his mouth after accepting. Of course the man who he'd dropped off had wanted to kill the drive to tie up any possible loose ends, but Arthur had insisted he live.

The cloaked man made his way down the side of the road, doing his best to keep out of sight of the guards at the gate. There were only 2, standing on each side but they were both highly alert and keeping their eyes fixed on the road, watching for anyone approaching. The man creeping along the side of the road had to slow down the closer he got to the gate, as there was less and less cover the closer he got to the gate, meaning staying undetected was very rapidly becoming an impossibility. He peeked out from behind a bush about 50 meters from the guards and let out a soft curse. The rest of the distance to the gate was clear, open ground, meaning he either had to rush the guards and take them out or eliminate them from a distance. Both possible options were going to be difficult.

He quickly re-analysed the situation. Both guards were wearing chain mail, covering everywhere on their body's except for the head and neck. However instead of being exposed, they were both wearing steel helmets which were open at the front but still restricted peripheral vision somewhat, meaning if he made a dash at them from the side...

He shook his head _No good, I'll have to back up and circle around but then I could be spotted by either of them. _He then made a decision. His plan was risky, but if it worked he would be inside and both guards would be dead. He drew one of his throwing daggers in each hand before concealing them in his sleeves. While he wasn't an assassin, he had been trained in how to throw daggers, should a situation ever arise where he needed the skill. He then stood up and walked straight out the bush into full view of the two guards, who's heads both immediately turned to look at him.

"Stop!" the one on the right shouted. The man simply slowed his pace but didn't actually stop. 40 meters. "Stop!" the other one yelled, and the man simply slowed down even more but still kept moving. 35 meters. "Sir, we demand you stop at once!" They both commanded, now pointing their weapons at him. Letting out a small curse, the man stopped, about 30 meters from the guards. _Not as close as I'd like, but that just makes it more interesting _He thought.

"Who are you and why are you here?" The guard on the left demanded. Deciding to push his luck, the man took a step forward holding his arms out to the sides. "Me? I am a simple traveller who got lost in these woods. Might I ask, where is the nearest town?" another step. The two guards frowned at him but didn't shift their gaze off him.

"We told you to stop moving." The one on the right said. The man did as he asked. "The nearest town is that way." The guard on the left said, pointing over the cloaked man's shoulder. "Follow the road and you'll reach it in no time."

"But my dear friends, I am tired and hungry. Could you not spare me a bite to eat or a place to rest?" The man asked. The two guards still kept their gazes on him and much to the man's annoyance, weren't looking very believing. "Sir, I hope you understand but this is a nobles Estate. We cannot simply let random travellers in, lest we lose out jobs."

"Well my dear friend, it appears you have lost it anyway." The man simply responded. For a second, the guards looked confused and that's when he struck. Charging forward, he hurled one dagger at the face of the guard on the right, where it embedded itself in his throat before he could react. The other guard however, managed to dodge the dagger thrown at him and raised his weapon, pointing it at the man.

"ALERT! WE ARE UNDER ATT-" he yelled before the man hurled himself towards him and embedded a dagger into his throat. The cloaked man kicked the dying guard in the gut before he searched him and found what he was looking for. The key to the gate. He walked over and quickly unlocked it, pushing it open just enough for him to get inside. Once he was in, he closed and locked the gate behind him and walked off with a smirk.

"Hiato Higurashi, today is the day that you die." He said darkly, his smirk growing.

* * *

Hiato's eyes shot open and he shot to his feet, disturbing the sleeping Louise who had been wrapped in his arms. Louise rubbed her eyes and looked up at him, confused as to why he had suddenly jumped up like he did. "Hiato what's wrong?" She asked him. He didn't reply, his head kept moving left and right rapidly and she caught a glimpse of his face, which had a look of concentration on it. Suddenly his head stopped moving and he let out a gasp and Louise then felt something from him she'd never felt before.

Fear

Actually fear didn't describe it. Absolute terror was more appropriate, as he took a step back, muttering "Impossible... impossible... how could one be here...?" his tone filled with terror. Louise stood up and walked up next to him, and gasped when she saw his face. He had gone deathly pale, and his eyes had shrunk to the size of peas, and he suddenly started shaking violently. "No... no... no... h-h-how? H-how can one be here... it's impossible..." he said, sinking to his knees. Louise was in complete shock, she had never seen him this way before. She tenderly reached out and put her hand on his, and he sudden snapped his head to look at her, fear written all over his face.

"H-Hiato... what's wrong?" She asked softly. He just stared at her, still shaking before he started speaking.

"I-It's one of t-t-t-t-them..." he stammered out.

"One of what?" she asked,trying to keep calm. Inside though she was probably just as scared at Hiato was. What could possibly bring so much fear to Hiato that it would reduce him to a state like this?

"A D-d-d-d-d-d-dragon..." He started to shake even more violently. Louise placed a comforting hand on his back, but it did little to help. "A dragon...?"

"A... a... A DRAGON SLAYER WEAPON!" He yelled, looking away from Louise. She just stared at him. "B-But how? Aren't they only suppose to exist in you're world?" Hiato nodded, his shaking calming down. "I thought I'd finally escaped... but now their here... here to try and kill... me..." he stammered out. Louise, unsure of what to do, wrapped her arms around him.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine. You're stronger now and you have you're powers." She said, trying to comfort him. He looked at her, and a weak smile appeared on his face.

"You're right. I do have my powers now, and I'm a lot stronger than I was before." he said, trying to sound confident, but his voice was still shaky. Louise then had a question.

"Is whoever is wielding this weapon close by?" She asked. He nodded. "I'm not sure how far away, but I'm guessing he must be inside the Estate if I can sense the presence of his weapon."

"How can you do that?" She asked. He looked at her, the fear still in his face but slowly subsiding. "I'll explain later. For now, we need to warn you're mother. And get Derf." He grabbed her hand and they started running towards the House. Louise had one final question.

"How do you think they managed to come to this world?" She asked. Hiato looked back at her.

"I wish I knew." he responded.

* * *

The man had been creeping around the Estate for a while now, managing to avoid any of the other guards. Fortunately, it seemed as though no-one had heard the one guard who had yelled, meaning his task would be much easier. Well as easy as it was looking for one person on an Estate as large as this, even with the dragon slayer weapon glowing the closer he got to the dragon boy, it would still take him a while to find the little runt.

He ducked under a bush as a guard walked past, before reaching out and pulling him into the bush and killing him.. In total he had seen about 5 since he got through the gate, and killing them hadn't exactly been the hardest thing in the world. He crept out from behind it once the guard's body was well hidden and he moved on. He passed a lake which he simply glanced over once, since there was nothing in or on it that he could see was important. He crept silently until he heard someone running, and he immediately dived into a nearby bush. He peeked out, and grinned wickedly. He had finally found his target.

The dragon boy was running holding the hand of a pink haired girl who the man assumed was his master. He had obviously sensed the presence of the Dragon slayer weapon and was probably running off to either try and warn the mother of his master, or get a weapon. Or both. It didn't matter to this man, because the boy was going to die, here and now. Even with his dragon powers, which can't be all that strong. While he did manage to kill Wardes, it was simply because Wardes was an overconfident ass who simply underestimated the boy. HE wouldn't make the same mistake.

"Well well well, look what we have here. A runaway dragon and his little "master", I never thought I'd see you again, _Hiato._" The man said, stepping out the bush and standing directly in front of the boy and his master. He smirked when he saw Hiato freeze up in what he assumed was fear. The girl who was with him then walked forward, stopping in front of Hiato. "Who are you?" She demanded. The man smirked.

"Edward MacIntyre, former second in command of the Dragon's watch, at you're service." He said with a mocking bow.

* * *

Inside the mansion, Cattleya Valliere was sitting in her room thinking over the events that occurred since Louise had arrived home with her familiar. She had obviously been influenced a lot by her familiar, as she had managed to stand up to their mother, an act which Cattleya would have always thought impossible for her younger sister. Then her familiar had given their mother a harsh talking to, and managed to convince her that she should listen to what Louise wants. After that argument, and Eleonore storming off in a fit of rage, Cattleya had found herself talking to her mother.

"Cattleya." She had said. "Do you think I'm making the right choice here?"

She had pondered the question before giving her answer. "I believe you have mother. Louise has obviously grown up, and now knows what she wants. Also her and her familiars feelings for each other are quite clear, and I doubt that he will sit by and let Louise suffer. I have seen it myself mother, he means only the best for Louise, and I could never imagine him harming her." Her mother had then assumed a thoughtful expression then just sighed. "You can go." She had said.

She stood up and walked over to the window, thinking about that conversation with her mother. Normally her mother would never ask for her opinion on one of her decisions, and instead just brush aside any complaints or anything that were raised. Now she had asked Cattleya what she had thought, obviously wondering what her middle child thought. Perhaps it was Cattleya's support that allowed Louise her freedom? Maybe, since it was obvious that Eleonore clearly didn't support the idea. As Cattleya got to the window however, her thoughts stopped.

Hiato and Louise were standing in the courtyard across from a man wearing a black cape and hood. At once she could tell this man meant trouble and looked around to see all the guards were no where to be found. Without thinking she knew what to do, and spun around, ran to her desk to grab her wand, and she made her way to the door. She opened it and started making her way down the corridor, before a man stepped into the middle of it, causing her to stop. He was wearing a dark cloak similar to the man outside except without a hood. He had brown hair which was cut short, dark blue eyes and an intimidating face.

"Sorry, going somewhere?" he asked, his voice mocking. Cattleya narrowed her eyes. "Who are-" That's when she noticed his sword, and her stomach turned. It was coated in blood, and then she noticed he had several blood stains on his cloak as well. "Oh me? I'm no-one, just another soldier doing his duty."

"And what duty is that?" She asked, her voice filled with anger and disgust, as well as getting ready to cast a spell.

"Why, killing anyone who stands in the way of the Reconquista." he said, smiling darkly. "And you're top of my list, miss Cattleya Valliere."

* * *

Hiato was glaring at the man standing in front of him, both fear and anger present on his face. Edward was returning a sadistic looking smile. "What? Aren't you happy to see me?" He asked, his voice mocking. He then reached into his cloak and drew his sword, causing Hiato to tense up even more and take an involuntary step backwards, electing a chuckle from Edward.

"Oh are you scared of this little sword?" He asked before chuckling again. "What a wimp, scared of something like this." He said, twirling the sword around in the air. "I would challenge you to a sword fight, but wait! You don't have one!" he said before laughing, and laughed more at Hiato's face twisting into one of anger.

"Oh I never thought this could be so much fun!" He then adopted a dark smile. "I'm not going to kill you, dragon boy. Well not right away, instead what I'm going to do is cut you up real good, then let you watch as I slowly kill you're precious master and make her beg for mercy. Then kill her in front of you're eyes. I'm going to have SO much fun with this!" He said, his voice filled with dark glee. Louise just looked shocked while Hiato's face was filling with more rage with every passing second.

"Y-You're... a... a... a monster!" She yelled at him, which simply elected a laugh. "A monster? Oh no my dear, I am simply a professional. I do my job as I am requested to do so by my superior, and that's it."

"Why are you here!?" Hiato demanded. "How can you be here? It should be impossible!"

"Oh you say that, but you're here yourself." He pointed out. "But I suppose I'll tell you the story. But for starters, did you know Arthur is here too?" Edward asked, causing Hiato to freeze in shock.

"Arthur!?" He asked, shocked. Edward nodded, a grin on his face. "That's right. Him and Ascalon. It was really sudden actually. One day we were just going about doing our job trying to find you, next day we were in a place called Galia, being summoned by that places king and some other mage. We were told we were supposed to be "familiars", but that didn't sit well with us, oh no. After a while, Arthur managed to convince that king... what was his name again? I can't remember. Anyway he managed to convince him that we were more than just familiars and could help him a lot. After a while, Arthur even came up with the idea of taking over the world and uniting it under one kingdom. The king refused at first, right up until Arthur told him his plan, which was certainly brilliant, I must say." He said. "Start a revolution in one country, then spread it to the other's."

Hiato and Louise went wide eyed. "Wait a second... so Arthur is responsible for the Reconquista AND the Order?" Louise asked.

Edward nodded. "Yes yes, good to see you have a brain after all." He said in a tone that suggested he was talking to a stupid person. Hiato''s eye twitched in rage, and he transformed his arms, and immediately darted in front of Louise and hurled a fireball at Edward, who simply brought his sword up and deflected the attack off to his right. "My my, so aggressive aren't we?" He said, smirking. "Before we fight, I just want to let you know everything."

Louise, who was now pointing her wand at Edward, raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He smiled darkly. "Because I believe it to be good manners to let someone know the motivation behind their killing. After all, you 2 won't be leaving here... alive." he said. Hiato snorted. "Not likely. Didn't you hear? I killed Wardes." He said.

"And what of it? He was a weak fool who underestimated his opponents, I don't make that mistake. Even with you're dragon powers, you can't hope to kill me. Especially since I've got this sword." Edward said, waving his weapon at Hiato. He then smirked. "You want to know it's name?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter since you and that sword are going to hell." Hiato spat. Edward pretended to be wounded. "Well I'll tell you anyway. This blade's name is..." He smirked. "... Burncaliber." Hiato blinked before his flames exploded up around him, rage clear on his face. Without thinking he charged at Edward, his hands wreathed in fire and he let out a roar. Edward simply smirked and prepared to strike Hiato dead on with the sword. However he was suddenly struck by an explosion, knocking him off balance and making him lower his sword. Before he could react. Hiato's first slammed into his chest, damaging his armour and sending him flying backwards.

Hiato didn't even stop, he hurtled forwards after him, raining punches down on him. Edward managed to dodge one and swung Burncaliber, cutting Hiato along the arm. He reared back and screamed out in pain, clutching his arm and stumbling backwards. Edward smirked and charged forwards, Burncaliber raised above his head. Before he could deal a lethal blow however, he was blasted backwards by another explosion. Louise was standing with her wand out and her adrenaline pumping. She ran up to Hiato while Edward was recovering from the second explosion she had hit him with.

"Are you ok?" She asked. Hiato just shook his head weakly. "He hit me pretty bad with that thing. My arm's practically useless now, I can't move it without it hurting like hell."

Louise inspected the wound, and noticed it was bleeding more than it should. "That wasn't such a bad hit though." She pointed out. Hiato chuckled weakly. "To be honest, I'm glad I can still FEEL my arm. Dragon slayer weapons aren't called that for fun. If he'd hit me in the chest, I'd be dead right now." he said, clutching his arm tightly.

"Thanks by the way for that save back there." He said.

"Well maybe next time don't charge in like an idiot." She snapped.

"Sorry... it's just..." He started. "When he told me which sword it was... I just... I couldn't handle it... That sword killed my parents... so I have to destroy it..."

Louise quickly blasted Edward with another explosion spell in order to keep him down. "I understand, but don't do something so reckless OK?" She asked. Hiato nodded, and slowly got up. "Well unfortunately, I guess this time I really over-did it with the stupid. My arm's useless and if he lands another hit on me I just might pass out. Any idea's?" He asked Louise.

She thought for a moment. "We should wait for mother. She'll have heard the explosions and come to-"

"Not happening missy." Edward's mocking voice came from the smoke of the last explosion. Louise glared at him. "What do you mean?" She demanded.

"A bunch of my friends sneaked in here a while ago and were waiting for me to arrive. Their jobs is to keep you're family busy while I deal with you 2. In other words, their here to kill you're sisters and moth-" He was cut off as he was blasted backwards by another explosion spell, but this time he recovered quickly and was smirking, while Louise was furious. "What? Well there's nothing you can do about it." She glared at him, and cast the explosion spell again, only for him to dodge and charge. She would have been dead had Hiato not created a wall of fire between her and Edward, who jumped back slightly.

"No. YOU are the only one going to die today. And once I'm done with you, I'm going to kill Arthur to get revenge for my parents." Hiato said, his voice dark. Edward burst into laughter. "Oh you think _Arthur_ did it? Might I ask, who is wielding Burncaliber, the sword used to _kill_ you're parents?" he asked. Hiato's eyes went wide, as well as did Louise's. _No... no... no... NO... NO... "HIATO DON'T LISTEN TO HIM HE'S LYING TO-"_

"That's right, I killed you're parents Hiato. Arthur was there, and he did order the execution, but I was the one who killed them, I was the one who took the swing that killed them. And now, I'll be the one to take the swing to finish you're life." Edward said, smirking. Louise was screaming at Hiato in her mind to not listen to him and just stay calm.

Unfortunately he wasn't listening.

Rage. Pure, unadulterated rage was flowing through Hiato's body, the pain of his arm forgotten. His fire flared up around him, scorching the earth around him. Louise had to take a few steps back because of the overwhelming heat he was giving off. He looked at Edward, his green eyes burning with rage, his arms wreathed in fire. Edward was smirking, he had now provoked Hiato into a state of pure rage, so now he would attack mindlessly, meaning victory would be simple. He raised his weapon and smirked, but before he could say anything Hiato roared so loudly the earth shook from the force of it.

"YOU ARE GOING TO DIE YOU BASTARD!" He roared, before charging at the dragon slayer.

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it AND the cliff hangers (heh heh heh). There is going to be a lot of action in the next chapter, so I hope you're ready for it! Please leave a review telling me what you think! Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this and I will see you in the next chapter!**

**Buh-Bye!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello and welcome to chapter 20! Whoo 20 chapters! That's really awesome! Thanks for all the views, reviews and everything else, it gives me extra motivation to write this story! Now then, on with chapter 20!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

Karin sighed. She was currently sitting in her room at her make-up table. She was looking at herself in the mirror. She let out another sigh. She was currently thinking over her decision about allowing Hiato to marry Louise. _Why would I ever agree to such a thing?_ She thought. Normally she would never change her mind once she had made a decision, but something about her youngest daughters familiar had managed to change that.

She felt her anger flare when she thought of what he had said. How he had spoken to her and Eleonore with such disrespect, it had infuriated her! Yet as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. Everything he had said had been true, yet the one thing that had perhaps hit Karin the hardest was when he had pointed out that by trying to force Louise into an arranged marriage, she had put her daughter's life in danger.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a massive spike of power outside. She shot to her feet and grabbed her wand in a heartbeat, before she started moving across the room to the door, all the while trying to determine the source of the power. One thing she could tell is that it was certainly fire of some sort. It wasn't completely magical, but it felt roughly similar. Just as she was about to get to the door, it swung open causing her to take a few steps back.

There was a man in the doorway, wearing a black cape and hood brandishing a steel long sword and sporting a cocky grin. Behind him were 3 other men wearing the same outfit and look on their faces. Karin narrowed her eyes.

"Who are you?" she demanded. The man in the doorway chuckled.

"Who we are is simple, just soldiers doing our duty." He said, walking into the room. Karin was now backing up slowly, preparing to fire off a spell at any second.

"And what duty is that?" She asked.

"Killing anyone who-" He never finished, as a gust of wind smashed into his chest, sending him flying into one of his friends, both of whom were knocked out by the impact. The other 2 men froze, giving Karin the chance she needed. Not hesitating, she sent them both flying into the wall behind them with a flick of her wand, which released a wave of wind. There was a satisfying _donk_ as they hit the walls and fell into unconsciousness. Waving her wand again, she bound their hands with wind magic before setting off down the corridor, rage boiling in her eyes.

"Whoever sent this men, will _pay._" She said darkly as she marched off down the corridor, looking for her children.

* * *

Cattleya jumped back, narrowly avoiding the sword swing. Not waiting a second, she quickly chanted a spell and pointed her wand at the suit of armour standing motionless next to her. The next second it shook violently before coming alive and stepping forwards and turning to face her aggressor. She was breathing heavily and clutching her left arm, which had a cut wound running diagonally across her bicep. It wasn't too deep but it was bleeding quite badly, and blood had stained her entire sleeve. "Attack!" she commanded.

The man charged forwards towards the suit of armour, which raised its sword to block the blow. Not wasting a second the armour pushed the man back before swinging its sword in an attempt to cut him diagonally across the chest. The blow was blocked, and the man quickly rolled out of reach of the armour and started swearing softly.

"Stupid magic…" He muttered. While Cattleya wasn't in the best condition, unless reinforcements showed up she was pretty confident she could win with her suit of armour. Said armour charged forwards, pointing its sword forwards towards its target, who dodged out of the way and quickly knocked the armours head off, before landing behind it. Thinking his foe was defeated, the man started running towards Cattleya, his sword raised. Before he could reach her however, a steel hand grabbed his collar, yanking him backwards.

He then came face-to… empty space with the suit of armour, since it's head was currently still on the floor. The armour was not amused by his decapitation, as it first slammed the man into the wall, and then punched him really hard in the gut. It then finished off by delivering a cold hard steel kick to the man's private areas, which caused him to gasp in pain and fall over holding his nether regions, his mouth open in shock but no sound coming out.

Cattleya winced at the beating her suit of armour gave to the man, and then winced again at the pain in her left arm. The suit walked over to where its head was, picked it up and dusted it off before putting it back on. It then turned around and walked over to Cattleya, holding its sword up in a knightly fashion. She turned and started walking down the corridor away from the crippled man. She had 2 things on her mind, first: _I need to find help, fast._ And second: _I need to work on controlling what I summon more._

* * *

Louise was worried, and scared.

Hiato was in a blind rage, attacking Edward mercilessly. Unfortunately for the dragon slayer, the frenzied manner Hiato was attacking him in had made anything save blocking and dodging impossible. Hiato was completely wreathed in fire, and his eyes were glowing green, but the pupil's couldn't be seen, giving it an unnatural look. Edward had several singe marks on his cloak from the fire around Hiato alone, and the heat of it was rising every second.

Hiato roared before hurling his fist towards Edward's face, who managed to dodge and then quickly land a hit on Hiato's chest, causing him to stagger backwards and scream in pain. He collapsed onto one knee, clutching his wounded chest. Edward managed to stand up straight and started walking/limping towards Hiato. He stopped when Hiato stood up, still clutching his chest but eyes still glowing.

"Not bad, most of your kind would be down and out after two hits, but it looks like you're barely hanging on." He raised his sword. "One more strike should do-". He was cut off when Hiato roared again, and was engulfed in a column of fire. That was when Louise felt something that made her heart sink.

Through the mental connection to Hiato, she could feel his mind slowly being consumed by rage. All his memories, thoughts and feelings were slowly being destroyed and replaced with sheer, overwhelming anger at Edward.

"HIATO!" She yelled. "STOP IT! PLEASE! JUST TRY AND CALM DOWN! I KNOW WHAT HE DID WAS WRONG BUT-" She was cut off as he roared again, and she could feel his rage building even further, consuming even more of his mind. She felt her mind shrink away from the anger that was leaking through her connection to him, and she froze in fear, feeling as his mind started to overwhelm hers, drowning her thoughts in an all-consuming anger.

She started panicking._ "Hiato! If you don't calm down you're anger's going to consume you AND me! Hiato PLEASE LISTEN!"_ She threw at his mind, only to feel no reply. The flames around him were growing, getting bigger and hotter and even Edward had a look of fear on his face from the heat he was feeling. Louise felt her mind slipping, and the edges of her vision started turning dark. She started swaying from side to side.

"_HIATO STOP THIS AT ONCE!" _A voice boomed through her mind, suddenly snapping her back to reality. Her vision cleared up, and she managed to gain a stable footing. The sheer volume of the voice made it feel like her mind was shaking, and she could swear she could hear an echo of it. That's when she noticed it something else.

Hiato had frozen.

He wasn't moving, and Louise could no longer feel that anger was consuming his mind. It was still there though, but most of it had been replaced with shock and confusion. Then she started to feel something else, another presence, one she recognized, its attention now on her familiar.

"_DO YOU WANT TO TURN BERSERK?"_ The voice demanded. Louise suddenly noticed Edward had unfrozen and was about to move forwards when she quickly aimed her wand at him and sent him flying backwards with an explosion spell. _"WELL DO YOU?"_ The voice demanded once more. Louise turned to look at Hiato who was looking at her, and she felt a wave of relief wash over her, as well as a small amount of amusement.

Hiato's eyes had returned to normal, and the flames around him had all but disappeared. His face was one of complete and total shock and confusion. _"W-what who a-"_ He asked before being cut off.

"_I SAID DO YOU WANT TO TURN BERSERK?" _The voice demanded for a third time, irritation clear in its voice. Louise then noticed Hiato was looking extremely nervous. _"Um… well no… but-"_

"_NO BUTS. YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO LET YOU'RE ANGER TAKE CONTROL OF YOU. DO YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE AZEROTH?!" _The voice roared, and Louise saw Hiato visibly flinch before his eyes widened.

"_Wait, who are-" _he was cut off again, and Louise quickly hit Edward with another explosion spell, sending him backwards.

"_WHO I AM IS NOT IMPORTANT. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT IS HOW MUCH OF A COLLOSAL IDIOT YOU ARE." _The voice took a deep breath before continuing, not as loud this time. "_ Didn't you stop to consider for even a SECOND that what he told you COULD HAVE BEEN A BLOODY LIE?" _ Hiato blinked before looking like a 5 year old who'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar. _"I… uh… well…"_

Louise could feel the other presence in her mind shaking its metaphorical head. "_I've been yelling at you for over a month, trying to get your attention, and this is how I finally do it?" _She and Hiato both blinked when they heard it chuckle. "_Well could have been worse. Anyway, duck."_

"Du-?" Hiato got halfway through saying before he saw a sword swinging towards him. He quickly ducked and jumped backwards, facing Edward. Louise let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Hiato glanced at Louise.

"_So who ar-"._He started.

"_I'll tell you later. For now we have bigger problems."_ The voice replied. Hiato nodded.

"_Oh and don't think your off Scott free. We WILL be having a… discussion later regarding your temper, Hiato."_ The voice said, and Hiato winced slightly. Before he could say anything though, he was suddenly surrounded by flames. Louise then felt the anger he had nearly been overwhelmed with come back in full force, threatening to overwhelm Hiato. She felt him panic, but then the voice started speaking again.

"_Listen to me Hiato; you need to get control of your anger. Otherwise if you don't, you'll turn berserk and kill everyone here, including Louise."_ She felt her heart stop for a second. _H-Hiato… k-k-kill m-m-me…?_ She thought, unable to imagine it. She then heard a voice in her mind which reassured her.

"_Don't worry Louise, I'll make sure not… to…. let that… happen…"_ He said to her. She could feel him struggling against being consumed by his anger, which had seemed to take on a life of its own. Edward was still recovering from the last explosion spell he'd been hit by, but froze when he looked at the column of fire.

"I… will… not… lose… control… and… hurt… anyone…" Hiato managed to say between grunts. There was an immense battle raging inside Hiato's mind as he struggled to quell his rising anger. _"Come on Hiato, you can do this! Just concentrate!" _The voice said once more

Hiato let out a grunt, struggling against his rage, which he was seriously convinced was now a separate entity all by itself. He was doing everything he could, but he slowly started feeling it overcoming him. He was starting to get angry now, and his reason and thinking were slipping.

_NO! I cannot lose! If I give in, then I'll lose my mind and I'll never get to see…_

He blinked, and then looked at Louise. He then started flooding his mind with images of the good times he had with Louise, and he felt his anger began to fall away. He kept flooding his mind with more and more thoughts of Louise and how happy he was when he was with her, and he couldn't resist but grin when he felt the results.

It was working.

"_He's winning."_ The voice said simply to Louise, and she had to do a double take when she thought she heard its voice filled with… pride? She quickly looked at Hiato's thoughts, before hope started to well up inside her. The voice was right, he was winning. Then she felt something else. A massive surge of power was welling up inside Hiato. The last traces of his anger were gone, instead replaced by determination. "_Louise, get Derf." _He said to her. She nodded before running off towards the building. Edward was about to move towards her when Hiato created a wall of flames protecting Louise.

Edward smirked at the scene in front of him, having recovered from earlier. Hiato looked at him determination written all over his face. "Did you kill my parents?" He asked. Edward let out a chuckle.

"Of course I did. Why would I ever lie?" He said, obviously trying to coax Hiato into getting angry again. His anger did flare up for a second, but he quickly shook it off. "_Nice work. Good to see you're getting some control. You're still getting the talk though."_ The voice complimented him. To Hiato, it felt familiar for some reason, but he couldn't understand why.

"_I don't really care about that right now. What's this sudden surge of power I'm getting out of nowhere?" _He asked.

"_It's the result of you managing to get your anger in check before you completely went berserk. I'm impressed; almost no one has ever been able to come back from the brink before." _The voice said.

"_Well I doubt they had you shouting at them. But how does that give me a power up?"_ He asked.

"_I'll explain later, for now just focus on getting that power under control. You'll need it to win this fight."_ Hiato nodded, and concentrated on the power building up inside him. Due to the speed of thought, that entire conversation had taken place in the span of 3 seconds. The fire that had once been around Hiato now came back, surrounding his form completely. Edward let out a bark of laughter.

"Do you really still think you can win?" He asked. Hiato smirked.

"Yes I can." He was getting closer to getting full control of this new power surging up inside him. For some reason it felt… different. Stronger, stranger and more… potent. "Oh really? And how would you go about doing that?" Edward asked.

"By fighting you with everything I've got!" He yelled, before finally gaining control of the power rising inside him, and roared as he released it. His flames suddenly tripled in intensity and power, and to Hiato they started to feel different. "_I'll give you a hand in this fight."_ The booming voice said to Hiato. "OK then, dragon boy, let's get this over with." Edward said smirking. Hiato smirked back. "With pleasure." He said.

(CUE EPIC MUSIC (NATSU/FAIRY TAIL THEME RECOMMENDED))

Hiato charged forwards. Edward readied his sword in his right hand, a confident smirk on his face. "_Charge him on his right side and when I signal, move and attack him on his left side. Use your fire to quickly change course at close range."_ Hiato mentally nodded, eyes focused on his opponent. He was getting closer, and Edward was readying himself to block an attack from the right. Hiato started to gather fire around his arms and legs, readying himself for the course change at close range. Time slowed down as he crept closer, waiting for the signal…

"_NOW!"_ The voice yelled. Hiato quickly blasted fire against the ground and pushed with his legs to his right. It worked, as the next second he was on Edward's vulnerable side, closing in fast. Readying his fist, surrounding it in fire, he punched him full force in the gut, sending him flying backwards and setting his cloak on fire. Upon landing, the man panicked as he quickly ripped the cloak off and threw it off to the side, revealing the damage done by the hit, which was quite bad. Edward cursed before charging forwards.

"_Hit him with a wave of fire once he gets close, it should distract him from attacking you directly. Either fireballs or quick rapid attacks would work, but I recommend staying at range to reduce the risk of getting hit. Your wounds might not hurt anymore, but I don't think seeing if you've suddenly developed a resistance to dragon slayer weapons is a good idea right now." _Hiato nodded. "Good point, I'll stick with range, and go in for melee if I get a good opening."

Sweeping his arm in front of him, Hiato created a wave of fire in front of him. Edward cursed again before swinging his sword and cutting through the fire, charging straight at Hiato, who flapped his wings, sending him backwards and hurled several fireballs at him. Edward was forced to block, and Hiato charged up a really strong one and threw it, not AT Edward but at the ground in front of him. The attack landed, and the shockwave sent Edward flying. He hit a hedge, leaving a man shaped indent in it which looked rather comical.

"What was that about me not being able to win?" Hiato asked smugly. The power boost he had gotten, seemingly out of nowhere, was really helping. Of course the biggest problem was he still had a limited supply of energy, and one more direct hit from that sword could cripple Hiato to the point where he can't fight anymore. He could simply charge up one huge attack and try and finish Edward, but that carried too much risk. One, the collateral damage from the attack could level most of the Estate. Two, Dragon slayer weapons can deflect and shield their wielder from fire based attacks, but only if the blade comes into contact with the attack it doesn't grant passive protection, only against what hits it.

"Shut up!" Edward yelled before hurling several daggers at Hiato, all of which he managed to dodge. He smirked. "That the best you got?" Hiato raised his hands and created swords out of fire, and threw them back at Edward. He blocked one before dodging out the way of the others. He then charged at Hiato, throwing more daggers. Hiato swore and dodged the daggers, and just narrowly avoided being decapitated by Burncaliber. He jumped back before gathering a ball of fire and hurling it at the ground in front of Edward, who managed to get out of blast radius this time.

"_Why don't you try flying?"_ The voice asked.

"_Because if I do that, then all he has to do is absorb, block or dodge my attacks. In the air I'm limited to range, but on the ground I can at least do some melee attacks._ He then had an idea. He summoned up a circle of fire and surrounded Edward, who started looking around quickly. The fire was taller than he was, and he couldn't see through it.

"Damn it… what is that runt plan-" He was cut short as a fist collided with his face _really_ hard. It sent him flying and he could swear his jaw had been dislocated. Once he landed he got up and looked around, only to see the fire still raging around him. He looked left and right.

"Come on dragon boy, what are you doing hi-" He never finished as a fist slammed into his gut, nearly causing him to barf, and then a kick to the head sent him flying. He landed with a painful _scrunch_ on the ground. He got up, swore profusely, and then looked around and figured out Hiato's plan.

_He's using the fire as a shield and cloak. I can't see him meaning he can attack me from whatever angle he likes, and it's impossible for me to predict where he's going-_ He spun around, just barely dodging a fist heading for his face before he smirked.

"Gotcha." Was all he said, smirking even more when he saw the look on Hiato's face. He swung Burncaliber and Hiato grunted, quickly using his flames to go backwards. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough, as the blade managed to cut his right forearm. Hiato winced but then did a double take when he realised the pain wasn't as nearly as bad as he thought it was going to be. _Maybe I got lucky_ He thought. He dispelled the fire, seeing his plan wasn't going to work anymore. But before he could think of anything else, someone yelled.

"Hiato!"

He turned to see an exhausted looking Louise carrying Derf. He smiled in relief when he saw she was fine. She smiled back, before using all her strength to hurl Derf at him. It was an impressive throw and covered the 15 meters or so between him and Louise. The talking sword spun through the air, and as it got in front of Hiato, its hilt was pointing diagonally from his right to left. He grabbed the hilt, causing the sword to stop but the scabbard to continue going. He then swung Derf and pointed it out to the right, smirking.

"Good to have you back Partner. Don't worry, I saved the best for you." Hiato said.

The sword didn't respond, and for a second Hiato was worried. Then suddenly the sword was engulfed in fire completely. Normally when this happened, it would be Hiato doing it and Derf would complain. Neither of those was true in this case, as the sword had spontaneously caught fire without Hiato's help nor was Derf screaming in terror or pain. Or both. When the flames cleared, Louise and Hiato's jaws hit the floor.

Derf had changed. The hilt now looked like it was a small dragon with bright red scales. The pommel of the blade was now a small green gem with red scales encasing most of it. The handle was now red with a line of gold running down each side. The small dragon seemed to be curled up around the base of the blade, and possessed a gold line running down its back. The blade had changed as well, gaining a slight curve to it as well as looking sharper. The spine of the blade was the same, except a thicker gold line running down the back. The dragon that was the hilt had a small head, which had closed eyes. These suddenly opened, revealing two small green eyes.

"Good to hear partner!" The dragon said its jaw moving. Hiato looked at it dumbfounded for a second before recovering. "Derf?" He asked.

"Yeah that's right! Good as new with a few upgrades to boot! I'll explain later. But for now, don't we have a fight to win?" The small talking dragon asked, turning its head to look at Edward, who was looking at the sword in disbelief.

"A talking sword? That's impossible!" He exclaimed.

"You bad guys sure are fond of the word "impossible" ya know that? Anyway, the proofs right here for ya! I AM a talkin' sword! Now then partner, shall we show him what we can do?"

Hiato smirked, grapping Derf with both hands and coating the blade in fire. "With pleasure."

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Hope ya'll enjoyed it, and next chapter's gonna have even MORE Action, so I hope you're ready, and guess what? It's coming out on… (Drum roll) FRIDAY! So please, leave a review telling me what you thought, it really helps! Anyway, thanks for reading and I will see you, in the next chapter.**

**Allon-sy!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello and welcome to chapter 21! I have good news and bad news. Good news, I'm feeling better. Bad news, school starts next week so its back to one chapter a week from now on. Anyway, on with what your all here for, the chapter!**

**Disclaimer****: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

Karin marched down the hallway, her wand raised and eyes scanning left and right. She had yet to encounter either Cattleya or Eleonore, which filled her with worry, but she had also yet to encounter any other assassins, meaning that either they had all been dealt with, or they had finished their mission and had left or were now stalking the halls of the manor, looking for the rest of their victims. As she rounded a corner, she stopped. There was an unconscious assassin lying on the floor. What she also noticed was an empty platform where she knew a suit of armour would normally be. She let out a sigh of relief _That mean's at least Cattleya is safe, for now._ Not wasting a second, she picked up her pace and went down the corridor in the direction she assumed Cattleya would have gone.

She then rounded a corner, and stopped dead in her tracks, a cold shiver running down her spine.

Lying in the hallway in front of her were the massacred bodies of some of her servants. Pools of blood everywhere, and stains all over the walls. Some simply had been stabbed through the heart, others had limbs missing and others... were too gruesome to describe. She turned from the scene and marched off, a cold fury building inside her. _I have to find my children. now._ As she rounded a corner, she nearly went head first into a suit of armour. The only thing stopping her from obliterating it was a voice she was overjoyed to hear.

"Mother!" Cattleya cried, rushing forwards to give her a hug. Karin returned the gesture, but then pushed Cattleya away when she saw her injuries.

"Cattleya are you alright?" She demanded. Her middle child nodded, a relieved smile on her face. "Oh mother, I've been looking all over for you. Have you managed to find Eleonore yet?"

Karin shook her head. "Not yet. We should check her rooms, hopefully she will still be there." She then looked at the suit of armour that was following Cattleya around. "I expect that back in it's place once this is all over, and you..." she turned to look at her daughter. "... Will be taking several days rest, and see a doctor." She said in a serious voice. Cattleya simply nodded, and Karin took off, the sounds of rattling steel signalling her daughters companionship.

They reached Eleonore's room with little difficulty, save having to deal with 3 more assassins and having to avoid area's where the servants had been brutally murdered. The door was in splinters, and there was several unconscious bodies lying next to it. Karin and Cattleya marched in, looked around, realised Eleonore wasn't there and then turned around and marched back out. "Where could she be?" Karin asked out loud. "Well maybe she's..." Cattleya trailed off as she saw what looked like a trail of drops of blood leading away from the room.

"Mother..." Karin turned to see Cattleya looking down at the floor. When she followed her line of sight, she simply frowned and felt anger. "It must be Eleonore. She must be wounded. Lets go." And without another word, Karin took off down the corridor.

_Eleonore, I hope your alright._

* * *

(CUE APPROPRIATE MUSIC)

Hiato charged once more towards Edward, Derf raised high and ready to swing. He brought it down once he got close enough, causing Edward to raise Burncaliber to block. As their swords met, fire blared outwards from the contact from Derf. For a while, they were locked in a struggle, until Hiato managed to force Edward backwards, who quickly recovered and swung Burncaliber downwards, only for Hiato to dodge backwards. Hiato quickly gathered his flames in his hand and hurled them at Edwards face, who quickly dodged out the way before charging forwards.

Hiato blocked the attack and quickly summoned some flames to hit Edward at the sides, causing his strength to waver and allowing Hiato to push him back and land a blow on him, a cut across the shoulder. Not deep, but still a hit. Edward grunted. "Not bad, you possess some skill after all." He taunted. Hiato simply gripped Derf's hilt tighter, his familiar runes now glowing a faint light red instead of pure white. "Same to you." Was all he responded with. Edward then smirked. "Not going to attack? Of course you aren't. There's no way you can win, since one more hit from my sword will leave you incapable of moving."

Hiato just looked at him. _He's not wrong. My wounds may not hurt, but if he hits me again with that sword, I doubt I'll be able to stand._

_"_Well then, I'll just have to beat you without getting hit then!" Hiato flared up his flames, before sending them in a wave towards Edward, who simply cut through them and charged at Hiato, sword raised. Hiato quickly dodged out of the way of the attack, before gathering power into his left hand. "Dragon fist!" He yelled before shooting forwards. The blow connected, hitting Edward in the shoulder and sent him flying into a nearby bush. He got up, swore, ripped off the rags that were once his clothes that were still on his left shoulder and then charged at Hiato again.

Hiato managed to block the attack, before pushing Edward backwards and going on the full offence, slashing at him from all directions to keep him from launching a counter-attack. On the sidelines, Louise was standing on tired legs, she had sprinted to get Derf and then sprinted back. Combined with the toll of casting all those spells, she was extremely weakened and the idea of sitting down was getting better every second. However, she refused to try and rest while Hiato was in the middle of an intense fight, as if he needed her at any moment, she should be alert.

Edward managed to parry a blow and swung upwards. Hiato was barely able to dodge the blow, and quickly flapped his wings to gain some distance. However Edward wouldn't give him any chance to recover, and launched his own, almost frenzied, assault. Unfortunately unlike when Hiato was doing it, he couldn't risk letting a single blow land, whereas Hiato had managed to land a few hits on Edward. He was struggling to dodge the rapid sword swings and thrusts at point blank range, and cursed when the sword grazed his cheek, barely leaving a mark.

_Dammit, too close._ He kept dodging and dodging, looking for an opening. As Edward was making a sideways swing, Hiato saw it. He quickly swung Derf sideways, parrying the blow, and then elbowed the dragon slayer in the gut before punching him in the face, sending him flying. He landed and was quickly on his feet again, before smirking.

"Not bad dragon boy, you actually caught me off guard there. I'm impressed at how you're managing to stay alive and avoid my sword, but not for much longer." He pointed Burncaliber at Hiato. "This ends now, and once your out of the way, very little will be standing between Arthur and controlling this world."

"Controlling the world? Is that what he wants?" Hiato asked. Edward laughed. "Of course, and once he finds a way back to our world, his royal majesty George the third will rule TWO worlds!" He said, his face having an evil look to it.

"Your wrong." Hiato said. "He doesn't rule the whole of Eurthina, what of the Straconia Empire? And the kingdom of the east?"

Edward scoffed. "Those are hardly worth being called kingdoms or empires." Now it was Hiato's turn to scoff.

"Oh yeah? What about the War of the west? Or the war of the North? Both of those nearly crushed the king you serve and he har-"

"SILENCE! I will not have you speak of his majesty in such a way!" Edward charged forwards, sword raised and anger burning in his eyes. Hiato smirked. _Gotcha_ He thought to himself as he dodged the swing, and then ducked as another swing was made towards him. He kept ducking and dodging the swings, and parried the ones that he couldn't. Sensing his chance, he parried a blow and struck Edward across the chest with Derf, cutting through the armour he had but not dealing the fatal blow he had hoped. Unfortunately, this gave Edward the chance he needed, and he brought Burncaliber around and slashed Hiato once more across the chest.

Hiato staggered backwards, blood pouring from his fresh wound. Louise gasped, and started to try and gather her magic in order to hit Edward with an explosion spell. Derf had cut through Edwards armour and cut his chest, but the wound wasn't deep enough to be life threatening. Unfortunately, Hiato's wound was worse, as pain exploded all around his body, and he fell onto one knee, struggling to keep himself steady. Edward swaggered forwards, believing victory was at long last achieved. Louise quickly gathered all her energy and yelled "EXPLOSION!" which simply staggered Edward, unlike before where it blasted him off his feet.

"Sorry girl, but that won't work any more." He then charged Louise and planted a fist in her gut, causing her to gasp in pain and wrap her arms around her stomach from the pain. Edward then kicked her in the side, sending her into a nearby bench. He had an evil smirk on his face. "I was told to kill you, but I guess I can have some... fun with you first. But I need to kill your little 'familiar' first, so just watch while I do. That'll make what's going to come all the more... pleasant." He grinned darkly at Louise, who shrunk back in fear. He then turned and took his time walking towards Hiato.

_N-No... I can't lose... Not now... I have to beat him..._ He looked up at the man approaching him slowly, who's mere walk was taunting him. _I-I-I... I HAVE TO... I made a promise that I would avenge my parent's deaths... and I'm not going to break... that... promise!_

"Well I guess it's the end, dragon boy." Edward said, raising Burncaliber high above his head "But alas, all good things must come to an end. I'd like to have more fun, but I've grown tired of you so I'll make this quick. Any last words?" He mocked. Hiato didn't respond, and Edward sighed. "Oh what a shame, I thought you'd at least insult me one last time before you die. Goodbye Hiato, say hello to your parents for me." He said. But before he could swing Burncaliber downwards, he was blasted backwards several feet. When he managed to stand up, his eyes went wide. Louise, who was watching from the bench, felt a spark of hope ignite in her heart.

(Cue Dragon Slayer theme from fairy tail (I DONT CARE IF IT'S IRONIC, ITS A BLOOD AWESOME PIECE OF MUSIC))

Hiato was in the middle of a circle of fire, and managed to push himself to his feet. Edward was gaping at him. "I-Impossible... you shouldn't be able to stand!" He yelled. Hiato looked at him, his face a mask of determination and and anger, yet pain was written across his features as well.

"For Louise... my friends... my parents... I... I... I... AM NOT GOING TO LOSE TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU!" Hiato roared, his fire blaring up in intensity. Edward blinked, in total shock. _Impossible... after this many hits he shouldn't be able to move let alone stand!_ His thoughts were interrupted when Hiato, gripping Derf firmly in one hand, charged at him. He quickly brought Burncaliber up to block the strike, but when their swords collided, he was knocked backwards from the force behind it. He managed to gain steady footing, and flinched when he saw the look on Hiato's face. It was a mix of anger, determination and pain.

Edward grunted, before hurling himself at Hiato, swinging Burncaliber in a wide arc. "TIME TO DIE THEN!" He yelled. Hiato roared before charging him as well, their swords colliding and sending Edward flying backwards again. This time Hiato chased afterwards and landed several hits onto him, each which hurt more due to the fire that was engulfing Derf. Hiato's assault was relentless, and Edward barely managed to block a blow and give himself some temporary relief. Hiato then roared, his head tilted back and his flames blaring up, before he lowered his head to face Edward. "BOOSTED DRAGON!" He roared, his power surging massively. Edward readied Burncaliber before roaring himself and charging at Hiato swinging towards him. His face turned into a grin when he saw Hiato would be unable to block the blow with Derf, but then Hiato did something that shocked Edward and Louise.

He grabbed Burncaliber in his left hand. When he did however, his entire body flashed, he flinched, and almost seemed to change colour for a brief second, but only Edward saw what colour it was and his face turned to one of abject terror because of it, and he mouthed "impossible". Louise couldn't see it because of the flames. "W-What are you!?" Edward demanded, his voice filled with fear. Hiato just looked at him. "I am Hiato Higurashi, and I AM A DRAGONOID!" Hiato yanked Burncaliber off to the left and snapped it in half with his hand. before he brought Derf up in a vertical slash across Edward's body, followed by a massive amount of his fire power. The blow cut deep, and the resulting fire incinerated Edward's body, leaving nothing but Burncaliber behind. Edward's final thoughts were _I-I failed... the prophecy... I-Its..._

(Kill the music)

Louise slowly got up, clutching her side, and slowly walked over to Hiato, who had now let go of Burncaliber. He was motionless, standing with Derf still in his hand. "Hiato?" She called out to him. He didn't respond. Instead he started shaking before he collapsed and let out an inhuman screech of pain, which forced Louise to put her hands over her ears. He was writhing in pain and clutching his hand, and Louise could do nothing but simply look on in horror as her familiar was screaming and writhing in pain. After 30 agonizing seconds, Hiato passed out, his body returning to normal human state.

Louise quickly rushed over and knelt beside him. _"Is he going to be alright?"_ She asked the voice.

_"He'll be fine, don't worry. What he just did was... impressive."_ Louise was confused by the tone of voice, it sounded like the one a parent would have when admiring their children. _"But he took a serious wound from that sword AND grabbed it, are you sure he'll be OK?"_

_"Oh positive, although that's only the physical aspect of course. Mentally... I regret to inform you I've diagnosed him with a possible case of "bloody stupid", since that last bit was just that, bloody stupid." _The voice said, its voice serious. Louise just looked at the unconscious form of her familiar. _"Oh, and It'll take a month for his wounds to heal completely." _It added in.

Louise blinked._ "A month!?"_ She asked. "How could injuries take _that_ long to heal?" She said out loud by accident.

_"They were caused by a dragon slayer weapon, meaning that they, on top of being about 10 times more painful, heal a lot slower than normal injuries, and can't be healed by dragonic regeneration."_

_"Would healing magic work?"_ Louise asked.

_"I don't know. Maybe, just give it a shot. I'm sure the worst that can happen is he explodes."_ The voice said seriously._ "Surely you can't expect me to take you seriously on that_?" Louise asked, disbelief in her voice.

_"I am being serious. Well except for the exploding part. And don't call me Shirley. I do have a name." _For some reason, that gave Louise Deja vu.

_"Oh? What is it then?"_ Louise asked.

_"Unconscious familiar now, my name later. Deal?"_ The voice said.

Louise nodded _"Deal." _She put her arms around Hiato, but found she couldn't lift him. "_Dammit he's too heavy, I can't carry him."_ That was when she saw his left hand. It looked burned, and horrible maimed.

_"Wait until help arrives, is what I reckon."_

_"What if someone comes and attacks us?"_

_"Don't worry, they wont. Just keep an eye on him. He should wake up soon... hopefully." _The voice said before fading away. Louise looked around. She then remembered something, and her attention snapped to the house.

_Mother... Cattleya... Eleonore... I hope you're OK..._ She thought, and then looked down at Hiato once more, worry etched into her face.

* * *

Karin and Cattleya had followed the trail for a bit, worry growing with each step. Eventually they found the trail going into a room with its door ajar. The two rushed in, and gasped at the sight. Eleonore was sitting in a chair facing the door, her face pale and her hair in a mess. She raised her wand when the two women rushed in, but then lowered it and smiled weakly when she saw it was Karin and Cattleya. "M-mother... Cattleya.." She said weakly. The two rushed over to her and knelt down beside her.

"What happened?" Her mother asked, her tone soft but her eyes hard.

"T-they charged into my room without warning and attacked. One managed to get me..." She revealed a wound on her side, which was wrapped in her sleeve which was completely soaked with blood. "I managed to beat them back, but I was wounded. I would have stayed but instead I decided to try and find you." She winced as she moved.

Cattleya shook her head. "You should have stayed in your room Eleonore. We would have found you sooner that way and you wouldn't have pushed yourself so hard, just look at the state your in." She said softly. Eleonore shook her head. "No... I needed to find you and make sure you were safe... it is the responsibility of the older-" She blinked. "Louise!" She said quickly. "Louise could be in danger! We need to go fond her!" Eleonore started trying to get out the chair, only to be stopped by Karin.

"No Eleonore, I will go look for Louise. You will stay here with Cattleya, is that clear?" She said in a tone that offered no argument. Eleonore looked at her mother before nodding weakly. Cattleya started to tend to Eleonore's injuries. Karin, confident that all was well, began making her way to the door. "I won't be long, I promise. I'll be back as soon as I can. Cattleya, leave your armour to guard the door." Her middle child nodded, and the armour took up position outside the door, scanning the hallway for enemies.

"M-Mother..." Eleonore started. Karin stopped and turned around to look at her oldest daughter. "Yes?" She asked.

"T-The servants... they were..."

"I know dear. Now please, try to rest. You'll need it."

Eleonore nodded weakly, before passing out.

* * *

Louise breathed a sigh of relief when her mother came running from the Manor with 2 guards who looked like they'd seen better days. "Louise!" She called out, quickly making her way to her youngest daughter. She stopped when she saw the unconscious form of Hiato. "Don't worry, he just passed out from his fight." Louise said, although her tone said otherwise.

"We need to get him into the house then." Karin simply said, which elected a surprised look from Louise, which she quickly hid.

"O-Okay!" Louise said. "But be careful, he is a bit heavy."

The one guard, who had brown greasy hair and blue eyes, chuckled. He was wearing standard armour, which was battered and bruised and had blood on it. "Don't worry miss, I can handle it." The guard walked forwards and picked up Hiato, carrying him in his arms. "Where to?" He asked Karin.

"A room that has a bed and isn't destroyed. Preferably near the entrance." The guard nodded before walking off. Karin then looked at Louise. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Before Louise could answer, she passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it and the fighting and stuff. Anyway, like I said, schools starting up this week so back to one chapter a week from now, sorry guys I wish I could do more but school is (unfortunately) more important. To all of you going back to school, I wish you the best for it, and all of you who aren't in the best place right now, I hope things will work out ok for you. Anyway, thanks for reading, please leave a review telling me what you think, and I will see you... in the next chapter...**

** buh bye!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello and welcome to chapter 22! Thanks again for all the reviews and everything else. The first week of school was a drag just btw, so without further Adue, lets get into chapter 22!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

The man sighed as he looked at the paper in front of him. His desk was fairly clean, not much on it save for a book he was currently reading and one or two quills for writing with. The desk itself was made from Oak, and was very finely polished. The man placed the paper on the desk, before standing up and walking to the window. On the way he stopped and glanced at a full length mirror on the wall to quickly check his appearance. He was a tall, handsome man with light brown hair that was cut short at the sides and front. His eyes were a dark, chocolaty brown. His face was smooth, showing no scars or blemishes. His jawline was very pronounced, yet it seemed to fit his face perfectly. He stood with an air of confidence about him, and moved with soft, calculated steps. He was wearing a white military jacket which was buttoned up at the front, and long white pants. Black gloves covered his hands, each with a symbol of a dragon with a sword through it on them, and a similar symbol was on his right shoulder. He had a sword at his waist, the hilt of which resembled a dragon's head with a red gem implanted in the middle of it. The hilt was coloured silver.

The man walked over to the window and looked out at the city below. The capital of Gallia was indeed a large city, but this man had seen bigger, and more impressive city's. The capital of Eurthina came to mind straight away. However, right now he wasn't concerned with that. Instead he was more concerned with the piece of paper he had left on his desk, telling him that Edward had failed and Hiato and his master were still alive. Well it didn't _actually_ say that, but Kingsley had figured it out since Edward had failed to make his way across the border in the allotted time he had, which had been a week from the day he would arrive at the Valiere Estate. The letter had been from the man who had been waiting at the border for Edward, and had sent it as soon as he failed to show up in time. It had taken a day to arrive, and when Arthur had read it, he had simply sighed.

The door opened, but Arthur didn't turn to see who entered. Only one person ever visited him in his room, and that person was his "master".

"Arthur." The emotionless tone of Joseph De Gallia, the King of Gallia, said from behind him. "I heard of what you did, and I do not approve of you not consulting me first." he said, his voice robotic. Arthur let out a sigh, dealing with his "master" was such a pain since the man felt no emotion, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. It also made him next to impossible to banter with, since he found no amusement in small talk. "I need the girl alive."

Arthur turned his head and raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?" He asked.

"She is a void mage, just like me. I need to capture her and acquire any spells she may have so I may further bolster my own power." He said, not looking at his familiar. "She may know a spell I do not, and so I must learn it."

Arthur sighed. "Is that really all that important?" He asked. The blue haired man looked at him. "Yes it is. As I said before, I do not approve of you sending assassins to kill her. Her familiar I have no problem with, but she must be kept alive."

"You see, _master_, that's were I have to disagree. The girl is a threat and must be neutralized. If what I know of you "void mages" is that your spells are extremely powerful, and thus a threat." Arthur said, looking back out the window.

"She is not a threat. She is no match for me and she is only just discovering her powers. Calling her a threat is pointless." Joseph said, his face void of any expression. He then looked at Arthur. "You must not do things like that again without me ordering you to do so, she is an important part of my plan."

_More like my plan, you arrogant bastard_ Arthur thought before letting out a sigh. "And so what are you going to do?" Arthur asked, his tone even yet challenging.

"I will not be giving you so much freedom in future. You will obey my orders to the letter from now on or suffer severe consequences. I will also be disbanding this "Order of the grand hunt" you've started and leaving the Reconquista in the hands of Cromwell."

Arthur snorted. "That fool? He'll drive the whole thing into the ground in less than a week."

"It does not matter, my decision is final. In addition, you will be assigned to Albion to advise Cromwell."

That did it for Arthur. His expression turned to one of anger, before becoming an amused one. "And what makes you think I'll follow that order?" Arthur challenged. His master looked at him. "Because I order you to do so, and a familiar obey-"

"Obeys his master without question. I understand that perfectly, _Joseph,_ but you see... I only obey those I respect, and I have more respect for the ground I walk on than I do for you." Arthur said, his tone venomous. Joseph looked at him. "Do not speak to me lik-"

"I mean honestly, this whole plan was my idea after all. What you came up with was far more stupid than my idea, but I went along with it... until now." Arthur said with a smirk, which dropped slightly seeing Joseph have no visible reaction.

"Stop at once Arthur." He said. Arthur looked out the window, ignoring him. "Tell me, isn't there a girl from Gallia living somewhere in Tristain? What was her name..." He scratched his chin before snapping his fingers. "Ah ha! It was Tabitha wasn't it?" he said, looking at Joseph. "What of her?" he demanded.

"If I'm correct in this... her mother has gone insane because she drank a poison meant for Tabitha. The reason for this is because... she is eligible to be crowned ruler of Gallia, am I wrong?" Arthur asked. Joseph narrowed his eyes. "No you are not, and I do not see how this has any relevance. You will be leaving for Albion tomorrow." He turned and was about to walk towards the door, but stopped when he saw the two guards who had been outside now standing in the room.

"Oh my... my dear "master"... I'm not going anywhere." Arthur said with an evil look. "I'm staying right here. In fact, I think its time you took a vacation master. A _permenant _one." Before Joseph could do anything, one of the guards had moved across the room, drawn his sword and stabbed the king of Gallia in the back, all in one swift motion. Joseph's eyes widened, and his face adopted an expression of shock as he collapsed.

"Good to see you can feel emotion after all. It was getting annoying to be honest, since the idea of being emotionless sends a shiver down my spine." Joseph looked up at him, shock written across his face "...why?" He croaked out, reaching for his wand. The guard swooped down, grabbed the wand, and snapped it in half.

"Why?" Arthur chuckled, his face gaining a dark look. "Because I need to control this kingdom in order for my plans to succeed, and having you on the throne is a pain. I'll kidnap that Tabitha girl, use that stupid ring on her and then use her to control Gallia. She'll be my puppet, following my every order. While I already have a lot of men under my command, I would like an entire kingdom." Arthur stepped past the form of Joseph, whom was slowly losing conciousness. He stopped as he got to the door. "Oh, and to the whole kingdom, you and your family are on vacation at a private getaway, and won't be returning for an undisclosed amount of time, but between you and me? You're wife's dead and you're daughter is as well. Say hi to them for me in hell." He smirked, before turning and walking out the door, uttering one final command.

"Men, dispose of the trash."Arthur said as he left the room.

"Yes sir." The two guards said, and the last thing Joseph saw, was the two guards leaning down to pick him up.

* * *

Louise slowly opened her eyes, and yawned as she did so. It had been a week since the attack on the Estate, and it had been a very tiring week for everyone. Unfortunately, only Louise, her sisters, her mother, Hiato and several guards survived the attack. All the servants had been killed, and clearing the mess had been tough work for the remaining guards. More importantly however, Hiato still hadn't woken up, he was still unconscious from his fight with Edward, and his wounds had barely healed, they had simply scabbed over. His hand was withered and looked dead, and it had been the topic of serious debate once doctors had arrived if it would be safer to remove it rather than leave it on his arm. Louise had managed to persuade them to leave his hand alone, but it had been difficult.

As for her mother and sisters... Eleonore had the worst injuries, but had managed to survive. Cattleya was spending all her days resting, and her mother was walking around with a permanent look of both anger and sadness on her face. She had been managing the recovery of the Estate, and had managed to find some more servants to come work at the Estate. Unfortunately their first job had been burying all the bodies of the old servants, which hadn't been great for moral. Next was cleaning up all the blood and damage, and that was still under way.

Louise had spent the last few days with Hiato, sitting next to his bed and holding his hand while wishing he would wake up. The strange voice inside her head had assured her he would be fine with time, but she had a hard time believing it. She had barely slept, drank or ate for the last week, and it had only been after hours of negotiation that Cattleya had finally convinced Louise to get some sleep, in exchange that she would be woken up the moment Hiato woke up. Cattleya had agreed, and Louise had instantly fallen asleep the moment she had collapsed on the bed she was now in.

She looked around. The room she was in was one of the guest rooms, since her room was in the middle of repairs. She climbed out of bed and crossed the room to the door, rubbing her eyes all the while. She felt better now than she had felt over the last few days, but she was still tired. She left the room and made her way to the dining hall, and when she arrived, Cattleya was there and she smiled at Louise when she walked in.

"Good morning Louise." She said.

"Good morning." Louise responded. She walked over to the table and sat down. "Has Hiato woken up?" She asked immediately.

Cattleya shook her head. "Not yet, but apparently his wounds have started healing. A few of them have scared over."

"_What did I tell you?"_ The voice asked, its tone full of cheeky cheerfulness.

_"Shut up."_ She responded, but as hard as she tried, it sounded more like a happy shut up than an annoyed one. If Hiato was healing, then it was a good sign he would wake up soon."Anything else?" She asked, her tone hopeful. Cattleya shook her head. "Aside from that no, nothing at all. Except he was apparently murmuring in his sleep once you left, and the doctor says he was saying your name."

Louise blinked, before blushing a little and smiling. _So he's in a coma and he's thinking about me? _She chuckled. Cattleya smiled at her younger sibling, before resuming her breakfast.

Several minutes later, Karin walked in. "Louise." She said in a neutral tone. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Better." Louise responded, smiling softly. "I don't feel as tired, but I'm not fully recovered."

"Good. I've informed Osmond that you won't be returning until I determine that you and your familiar are in good physical condition." Karin said in a tone that implied she did not intend to argue the subject. Louise resisted raising an eyebrow and questioning her mother, but she lept for joy on the inside.

"Thank you mother." She said with a bright smile. Karin looked a little taken aback by this, but quickly regained her composure. "It is nothing Louise. After all a mother must care for her children. I must go, the servants need me." She said, and turned away, but as she walked out the room, she had a small smile on her face. _That boy... he really is something..._

Louise finished her breakfast and practically sprinted to Hiato's room. She avoided bursting through the door and opened it slowly instead. She half smiled when she saw the figure lying on the bed in the middle of the room.

Hiato had bandages all over his chest and his arms. His left hand was still looking withered and dead, but Louise knew that its look was deceiving, as the skin of the hand felt warm to the touch, showing life still existed within the hand. She walked across the room, and glanced at the doctor sitting next to the bed.

"How's he been?" She asked, even though she probably knew the answer already.

"The same, miss. No changes, except his muttering in his sleep. He repeated your name many times, in fact it was the only thing I could make out that he was saying, the rest... I couldn't tell." The doctor said. He then stood up. "I'll leave you 2 alone, call me if you need help."

Louise nodded, and the man left the room quickly. She sat down next to the bed and took his left hand, smiling as she felt the warmth in it. She noticed it was warmer than usual, and she leant down and kissed it.

"Please Hiato... wake up soon..." She said, her tone almost pleading. "I couldn't imagine what it would be like if you were to die... I don't think I'd be able to live happily if you did..."

_"He's not going to die. I've told you this about a hundred times already. His body's just taking time to heal the wounds, and healing tends to go faster when one is sleeping you know."_ The voice said.

_"I know, but how come his hand hasn't changed at all? In fact it almost looks... deader."_ Louise said.

_"Deader? Who taught you how to speak, that word doesn't even make sense. Try "it looks worse" not "looks deader" its a horrible word."_ The voice said.

Louise raised an eyebrow, both mentally and physically. _"Your really giving me a language lesson? While Hiato is lying unconscious and wounded?"_

_"Yes I am. He is going to be fine, don't worry. In fact you should be happy he's even alive, since that many wounds from a dragon slayer weapon would render most dragon's either dead or incapable of moving from the extreme pain."_ The voice said.

Louise then felt her panic rising. _"Wait is he in pain!? Is that why he isn't waking up? Can I do something to help?" _She said frantically.

_"Calm down, Calm down. No he isn't in pain, otherwise you'd have gone deaf by now due to his screaming, and the house would probably need all its windows replaced. Yes it is partly the reason he isn't waking up. His body's in a state where he can't really feel anything, its sorta like his whole body's lost feeling. Its a double edged sword. On one hand, it lets his body fix itself quicker than usual and prevents it from feeling the pain. On the other hand it renders the person unconscious for a couple of days, usually until all the wounds are healed." _The voice said.

_"So he won't wake up until he's fully healed?"_ Louise asked.

_"No. Some of his wounds will still be present when he wakes up, but only the ones that can be healed quickly will. For example, his hands gonna still look like that when he wakes up, and its gonna take at least a month to heal over. Either that or..." _The voice trailed off.

_"Or what? Wait... couldn't he just absorb fire and heal the wounds?"_ She asked.

_"Doesn't work. Dragon slayer weapons can only be healed by the body's natural healing remember? In fact if he were to absorb fire, his body would try to repair itself with the fire and probably make his wound even worse, but there's a 50-50 chance of that happening. Give it a try, it might work."_

Louise sweat dropped. _"No thanks, I'd rather not put him in any more danger of injury if I have the-"_ She was cut off by a groan from the bed. She blinked, and her eyes widened. "H-Hiato..." She stammered out. The boy in question groaned again, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Uuuuuuuugh... I feel like I've been dragged through a bush, made of spikes, a spiky bush... spikuhy..." He sat up slowly, and looked around once before looking at Louise. "Hey..." He said weakly. He held up his left hand, only to collapse onto the bed once he did so. Louise darted forward and grabbed him.

"Idiot... you should be taking it nice and slow..." She said with a smile. Hiato just looked at her, a small smile on his face. "Sorry..." He said. He looked Louise up and down before looking around again. "What happened?" He asked.

"After the fight you passed out. We brought you here and you've been sleeping since then. You er... also let out a huge scream of pain after the fight..."

Hiato nodded. "I remember that. Doesn't hurt any more... more like aches really. How long was I out?" He asked.

Louise was about to respond, when she remembered a similar situation where she had been the one who had passed out. She had no malicious intent, but she decided to just tease Hiato a little.

"About a month." She said. He just looked at her, before he chuckled. _"Okay mysterious voice that lives inside out heads, how long was I out?" _Hiato asked, causing Louise's eyes to widen.

"_6 months."_ The voice said seriously. Hiato's eyes widened, and Louise had to suppress her laughter. "Six months!? No way!" He said, his jaw dropping. Louise couldn't help it and fell over laughing. The voice inside their heads did the same, and Hiato grumbled.

"Not funny." He said, pouting angrily.

"_Yes it was."_ Louise and the voice said simultaneously. Hiato just grumbled before looking away. "I'm never forgiving you."

Louise raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well then... I guess no more sleeping in the bed for you and no more kisses..." She smirked slyly. Hiato glared at her, before sighing. "Alright fine, you wi-" He was cut off by her moving in and giving him a deep kiss on the lips. He responded by trying to raise his arm and put it behind Louise's head, only for it to give up halfway through rising off the bed. Instead he opted for just pressing as deeply into the kiss as he could. Once they broke apart, they both had a small blush on their cheeks and were smiling.

"I Love you." Louise said.

"I love you too." Hiato responded, smiling. Louise then sat back down on the chair, and the two chatted for a while. Then suddenly Hiato remember something.

_"Hey! You said you'd tell me who you were after the fight."_ He asked the voice. _"Yeah you did."_ Louise added in after recovering from Hiato's random outburst.

_"I did?"_ The voice asked, but it sounded more cheeky than anything else.

_"No, you said you'd give me oranges and tell me to make lemonade."_ Hiato responded sarcastically.

_"That doesn't seem physically possible."_

_"I know, now answer my question: who are you?"_

Louise focused intently on the presence of the voice, eager to hear the reply. The voice let out an amused chuckle. _"Very well then, I'll tell you who I am. On the condition you keep it a secret from everyone else. No exceptions."_

_"We will."_ Louise and Hiato said in unison. They then smiled and each other, and Louise held Hiato's hand.

The voice chuckled again. _"Very well then and I'm warning you, you may be surprised, so do you best to-"_

_"JUST TELL US YOUR NAME ALREADY!"_ Hiato yelled, sounding impatient. The voice chuckled again.

_"Very well then. My name..." _Louise and Hiato held their breath.

"_... Is Draggosh, and Hiato... you are my 1000th son."_

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Thank for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed. Yes I've basically taken the canon of FOZ and thrown it out the window, but I hope you guys enjoyed the way in which I did it. Now I can write stuff that never happened in the show, and all new exciting events and story lines can take place! I'm really looking forward to writing the rest of this. I guess you could say... I'm all fired up! Alas I'm stuck with only being able to do one chapter a week, so that sucks. Anyway, enough rambling, I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review telling me what you think and I will see you... in the next chapter!**

**Sayonara!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello and welcome to chapter 23! Not much to say here, except thanks again for everything, you guys are awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter, so lets get it going!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

Hiato and Louise sat frozen, staring at each other with disbelief and shock written all over their faces. Hiato however, was _far_ more shocked than Louise was. He looked away from Louise and stared at his hands. He then transformed his right arm, looking it up and down. Louise looked at him with an awed expression, unable to speak and barely able to think. Hiato opened and closed his mouth several times, his mind also reeling in shock from what he had just heard. Then a thought occurred to him, and he clenched his fist in anger.

"You're lying." He hissed.

Louise snapped out of her current state and stared at Hiato. "What? What do you mean he's lying?" She demanded.

_"Yes, why do you say I'm lying?" _Draggosh asked.

_"Because if I really was you're descendant, then I'd have blue scales instead of red ones. And since I'm a red dragonoid, and my dad was a red dragonoid, there is no way I'm your descendant, if you really even are Draggosh." _Hiato said. _"So who or what are you really?"_ he demanded. Louise looked at Hiato before thinking about what he said. _He's right. I remember he told me that dragonoid's inherit their scale colour from the parents depending on what gender they are. Sons get the dad's colour, daughters get the mothers colour. _She thought, remembering what Hiato had told her about dragonoid's.

_"And that is exactly why you are a red dragon Hiato."_ Draggosh said cheerfully. _"Thank's for saving me the trouble of reminding him of that part."_

Louise blinked, before glaring inwardly. _"What do you mean? And don't just listen in on my thoughts like that! How would you like it if I did it to you?" _She said.

_"What's with all the hostility? Jeez, I really should have picked someone else's head to live in... this ones so clouded with thoughts of my great grandson many times removed, and not all of them are exactly child safe."_ The dragon complained. Louise went bright red, and Hiato glanced at her. "What is he-" he started.

"Nothing!" She said quickly, waving her hands. Before she could yell at the dragon that was living inside her mind, it spoke up, now sounding serious.

_"Hiato you know the reason you're a red dragon instead of a blue one."_

_"No I don't" _He replied, his tone hostile.

_"Yes you do. Think about what Louise remembered earlier, about which parent a dragonoid inherits its scale colour from. Sons from fathers, and daughters from mothers..." _it trailed off. Hiato frowned, before his eyes widened. _"Wait a second... are you saying that at some point a girl was born and I'm descended from her?" _He asked.

_"Basically. It's more like I only had one child, and she wasn't exactly a boy." _Draggosh said. Hiato blinked. _"And yes, my wife was a red dragon. You can figure out the rest."_

_"So I really am your descendant?" _Hiato asked, his mental voice trembling. Draggosh gave a mental nod. "_In reality your my 1001st descendant." _Hiato collapsed backwards onto the bed, causing Louise to reach forwards and grab him. "Hiato are you alright?" She asked, despite already knowing what the answer would probably be. He just lied there, his face bearing an expression of total shock as his brain struggled to wrap around what he had just learnt. Louise was barely keeping herself from being stunned by shock from learning the truth of Hiato's lineage. That had actually been the last thing she would have guessed about Hiato, and she just sat there, staring at her familiar who was currently staring at the roof. Even if she tried to move, she doubted she would be able to.

She had the soul of an ancient and very powerful dragon residing within her own. It was a bigger shock then when she'd heard she was a void mage. She had often thought that kings often had the noblest lineages, and that even her own family was something special. Compared to Hiato's however, someone who's lineage stretched back thousands of years and was the direct descendant of a possibly God like being, she felt like an ant, small and insignificant. Someone like here wasn't worthy of being master of someone bearing such noble and ancient blood.

_"Hey don't sell yourself short. No family, be it a young one or an old one, is inferior nor superior to any others. Don't start treating him differently or thinking of him differently just because I happen to be his great grandfather. If you do, it'll probably hurt him more than anything else." _Draggosh said in a caring tone. _"B-But... aren't you angry?"_ She asked. Draggosh raised a metaphorical eyebrow. _"At what?"_ He asked.

_"At how I treated Hiato when I first summoned him! Surely you must feel like I offended you in some wa-"_

_"You're really still going on about that? Jeez just let it go, it doesn't matter any more anyway. You didn't know, nor did he. I can't exactly be mad at you for ignorance, although I can say you may have been a little harsh with him but don't worry, I understand why you treated him like that, not that I approve of it, but I'm not holding_ a_ grudge. Just stop thinking about that alright? He's still your Hiato." _Draggosh said, his tone becoming sly at the last part. Louise was about to reply, when she felt a massive surge of anger...

...from Hiato.

_"SO THEN IT'S YOUR FAULT!"_ He roared, causing Louise to flinch and grab the sides of her head. "Hiato what are you-"

_"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO MADE THAT STUPID BLOODY PROPHECY!" _He roared again. He was sitting up now, his fists clenched in anger and his eyes burning with rage. Small sparks of fire were appearing in the air around him, causing Louise to shrink away from him in fear. Draggosh however, was confused.

_"Prophecy? What are you talking ab-"_

_"DON'T TRY AND DENY IT YOU BASTARD! YOU WROTE THAT BLOODY PROPHECY AND BECAUSE OF IT, MY PARENTS ARE DEAD!" _Hiato yelled at Draggosh. The volume of his mental voice was giving Louise a headache. _"IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY DIED! IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT I-"_

_"IF YOU SAY ONE MORE THING IS MY FAULT I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO PISS OFF A DRAGON!"_ Draggosh roared back, causing Hiato's anger to stop building and the sparks of fire swirling around him to disappear. Draggosh let out a long sigh. "_Look, I don't know what you're talking about. I never wrote any prophecy telling anyone that my soul would re-awaken in my 1000th son." _Draggosh explained.

_"Well then why the hell was their one floating around?" _Hiato demanded, still mildly angry. _"How should I know? I've been asleep for several thousand years, I tend to get out of touch with the world."_ Draggosh said. _"Wait a second, why ARE you even inside my head?" _Hiato asked.

_"You mean inside Louise's head."_

_"Shut up you know what I mean. Why don't you have a body any more?"_

Draggosh suddenly became depressed. _"Because... I'd rather not talk about it. I don't think I'll ever be able to tell anyone. Sorry its just..."_

_"I understand." _Hiato said, his voice suddenly sympathetic. Louise frowned at his sudden shift in tone, and was confused and relieved he was no longer angry. _"Thank you." _Draggosh said. They sat in silence for a while, and Louise decided to break it.

"_So... are you 2 OK now?" _She asked hesitantly. Hiato looked at her, and he smiled wearily. "Sorry. I kinda forgot you were here." He said.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." She said sarcastically. He winced at her tone. "S-Sorry! I really am! It's just I..."

"Had a temper tantrum?" She supplied. He sheepishly nodded before she laughed and kissed his cheek. "Its alright. You did have a right to be angry. You should be anyway, since it shows he doesn't pay attention to our conversations."

_"I'm still here you know."_ Draggosh said dryly. Hiato frowned, 2 questions on his mind.

_"Wait so what do I call you?"_

_"The voice inside your head." _Draggosh said.

_"Shut up. I mean what do I call you, Draggosh or..." _He paused, unsure if he should continue.

_"Don't tell me to shut up. As for your question, call me Draggosh or Grandfather."_

_"That's not really accurate."_

_"If you were to say the correct amount of greats in front of grandfather, you'd still be saying it in half an hour. Grandfather is easier."_ Hiato nodded, before strange feeling welled up inside him. Suddenly he felt tears form in his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away.

_"I-I'm sorry for shouting at you like that... grandfather."_ Hiato said, his voice low and sounding like a child's when they'd been caught doing something bad and were now saying sorry for it. _"It's alright Hiato. If our roles were reversed, I doubt my reaction would have been any different." _Draggosh said in a sympathetic tone. Hiato sniffed, tears rolling down his face. _"T-Thanks... grandfather... I-It's good to know... I still have a member of my family left. Do you know what my parents were like?" _Hiato asked. _"No I don't Hiato. I don't always pay enough attention to the conversations you and Louise have. If you will allow me, I could look through your memory and learn all you know about them." _Draggosh could do it without Hiato's consent, but he'd never do that. In fact, he hadn't once read either of their memories, all he knew about them was all he'd heard from conversations between them.

_"S-Sure."_ Hiato said. While Draggosh looked through his grandsons memories of his parents, Hiato looked at Louise, smiling.

"Sorry I haven't been talking to you much..." He started. She quickly kissed him on the lips, cutting him off and surprising him slightly.

"It's alright." She said as she broke the kiss and put her hands against his cheeks. "If you want, I could leave you 2 alone. I'm pretty sure you want to spend some time talking to you're grandfather alone."

"No it's alright. Please don't go anywhere Louise, not until I can." He smiled weakly. She closed her eyes and placed her forehead against his. Hiato closed his eyes as well. "I won't. I promise. You just hurry up and heal. After all, we still have to deal with the Order and I doubt they are taking breaks."

"Nah they probably are. Coffee breaks, tea breaks the whole lot. Oh and food breaks, the most important." Louise opened her eyes to see Hiato grinning like an idiot. _He's a complete and total idiot sometimes__._ She thought. She then smiled before kissing him on the lips. _Still wouldn't change him for the world though. _She thought fondly. She broke the kiss, smiling as she looked into his green eyes.

"I love you." She said.

"Really?" He asked. She jabbed him in the gut. "Ow. Okay okay, I love you too."

"Good to hear." She said, smirking. He looked at her sideways before muttering. "Women..." Louise raised an eyebrow. "What was that" She asked. He just looked at her, before smiling innocently. "Nothing." They stared at each other for a few seconds before he chuckled and she giggled.

_"You're parents were great people Hiato. My condolences." _Draggosh said.

_"Thank you." _Hiato replied. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, before Hiato asked his second question.

_"So why are you inside Louise's head instead of mine?" _He asked.

_"I honestly have no idea. My soul and conscience should be inside your soul, but instead its inside Louise."_

Hiato frowned. _"Wait a second, am I supposed to get blue dragon powers like you have, or rather had."_ He asked.

_"Yes, but I am unsure if you will be able to achieve them. Since my soul does not reside in yours any more, I don't know what's going to happen. As for how I'm inside Louise's head... I think it might have had something to do with that ritual that made you her familiar. I think I might have somehow been transferred into her soul from yours. It is possible since that's around about the time I started waking up." _Draggosh explained. Hiato and Louise frowned, thinking about it.

"_Wait a second, if you started waking up around then, how come you didn't hear of the prophecy sooner? I mean I told Louise about it a few times." _Hiato asked. Draggosh sighed. _"You're not going to let that go are you? It's because, as I said earlier, I don't pay attention to all your conversations. Usually when you 2 are having a private chat I tend to stop listening." _He said, sounding irritated.

_"Well those conversations usually had important information in them! Stuff that you should have known."_ Hiato said. Louise nodded in agreement.

_"Oh what you want me to listen in on all you're private moments now? Alright fine, I will. Especially when you 2 get busy making my next generation of descendants, after all you 2 probably don't even know how to do it properly. I'll be sure to provide running commentary and support." _Draggosh said, and if he had lips, he'd been smirking.

Hiato and Louise were as red as the former's scales. _"G-Grandfather! Surely you aren't serious about that?!" _Hiato stammered mentally. Louise however, wasn't thinking so much about the ancient dragon watching them do... stuff, but more about doing... stuff with Hiato and what their kids would look like.

_"I serious, and don't call me Shirley."_ Draggosh said in the most serious tone he could manage. Louise snapped out of her fantasies, before directing a mental glare at the dragon. _"If you do. I will find a way to climb inside my own mind and beat you senseless. Are we clear?" _She demanded. Hiato raised an eyebrow when he felt a small amount of fear from his ancestor. _"Y-Yes ma'am." _Draggosh said quickly.

_"You're probably the strongest dragon that's ever lived, and you're afraid of a girl?" _Hiato asked, barely able to keep his laughter in. Louise shot him a glare that made him stop laughing. _"See why? Women are by FAR the scariest thing in the world." _Draggosh said. Hiato nodded quickly.

_"I see you're point."_ He said.

Louise narrowed her eyes at Hiato before laughing. "It's kind of fun to do that." She said with a smile.

_"Sadist."_ Draggosh and Hiato said in unison.

Louise rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, how are you feeling Hiato?" she asked.

"You wait until now to ask?" He remarked dryly. She shot him a look. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He said, raising his left hand. "Although this isn't"

_"It'll heal, give it time. About a month should do."_ Draggosh said. "Good to hear, so Louise... got any food?" His question was further reinforced by his stomach growling. Louise sighed. "I guess I should have seen this coming. I'll fetch some from the kitchen for you." She gave him a kiss before standing up and walking out the room.

_"You 2 are taking this rather well. I expected I'd have been bombarded with at least a million questions by now from either both of you or just one of you." _Draggosh observed.

_"Give her time, she'll think of some. To be honest, I'm still mildly in disbelief and shock, I'm just doing a good job at hiding it. For Louise... I'm pretty sure she's over the moon happy or feels insecure." _Hiato said to his Grandfather.

"_Why is that?" _Draggosh asked. _"Because now she knows I really am something extremely special, meaning as a familiar, I'm probably the best thing she could have ever summoned. For the other part... its probably because she feels like she doesn't deserve to be my master, but honestly I don't think I would change her for the world." _Hiato said.

_"Oh so you enjoy her being you master? You like it when she gives you orders?"_ Draggosh asked slyly. _"You enjoy being her slave?"_

Hiato went red. _"S-Shut up! It's not like that, you perverted old dragon!"_ He said.

_"I'm not a pervert, I simply can appreciate women better than you can and I never rule out any possibilities." _Draggosh said, defending himself. Hiato rolled his eyes before turning serious.

_"So how much do you know about dragon slayer weapons?" _He asked seriously.

_"A great deal. Including something that no-one save me and you now know." _Draggosh responded, his tone equally serious.

_"And that is?" _Hiato asked.

"_Blue dragon's are immune to Dragon slayer weapons. Meaning that if we can unlock you're powers somehow, we have to do it as soon as possible."_

_"Good to hear. So I take it you know about Arthur and the dragon's watch."_

_"Yes, although the dragon's watch you dealt with was much different to the one I remember."_

_"How so?" _Hiato asked. _"For starters it was an illegal organization, and had less than 100 members. Also back then, dragon slayer weapons were outlawed as well." _Draggosh said. Hiato frowned and leaned against the head of the bed. _"Interesting... and yet now the Dragon's watch is part of the royal army and dragon slayer weapons are standard issue for every soldier." _Hiato said.

_"Indeed. Obviously policies changed over the years. Is the prophecy such a big deal?" _Draggosh asked.

_"To the kings it is. You know what it says? Well the kings thought it meant they would be overthrown. Funnily enough the other Animas thought it was stupid and didn't believe it." _Hiato said amusedly. "_Made the normal humans look stupid. So how exactly are we going to go about and unlock my blue dragon powers, if that is even possible." _Hiato asked.

_"You need to train as hard as you can. Normally it would have taken you 6 years after your awakening without training to unlock them. We don't have that much time. With regular hard training, if it's even possible, about 6 months." _Draggosh said.

_"That's still too long. And it could be a waste of effort. What are the chances?" _Hiato asked.

_"Not very high. At this point its a shot in the dark, but unfortunately its our only hope to beat Arthur and Ascalon. Without your blue dragon powers, if you fought him, it would be pointless." _Draggosh said.

_"Come on, I beat Edward and Burncaliber, I should be able to beat Arthur without my blue dragon powers if I just play it safe." _Hiato complained

_"No. Ascalon is the strongest dragon slayer weapon ever made. You need your blue dragon powers to beat him with it." _Draggosh said seriously.

_"Very well then. When will I begin the training necessary?"_ Hiato asked.

_"As soon as your on you're feet again. I will supervise you."_

_"Just one question: can Louise train with us as well?" _Hiato asked. Draggosh smiled metaphorically. _"Sure."_

Hiato grinned. "Alright then, I can't wait to get to training!"

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**And that's the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it and please leave a review telling me what you think! I appreciate it a lot! Anyway sorry if this feels a little filler-ish, the next few chapters won't really have any action in them, more like just training. So yeah, Hiato's the greatx998 grandson son of Draggosh, who'd have thought? And yes, sorry if "blue dragon" Is a kinda lame name for it, I'll think of something better soon. If you have an idea, please let me know, since I can't really think of anything cool to call it. Anyway, thanks once more for reading and I will see you in the next chapter!**

**Allons-y!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello and welcome to chapter 24! Not much to say, except thanks for all the reviews and I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

The next 4 days went by without anything major happening. Hiato, who was displaying the common male refusal to remain in bed whilst he is recovering, despite the fact doing so will make it go faster, was making good progress with his recovery. After being stubborn about it and arguing with Louise for several hours while his grandfather simply watched with amusement, he managed to convince her to allow him to leave the bedroom. Unfortunately this came at a price, he would have to drink what he had been told was 'medicine' that would help him recover, but he believed to be the foulest and most disgusting concoctions he had ever had the displeasure of consuming. Mistress Pol, the remedial expert who had been brought in, had simply told Hiato that "Medicine is supposed to taste bad. Otherwise people would intentionally get sick so they could have the medicine. It tastes bad so as to encourage people not to get sick, and to make them get better faster. Now be a dear and drink it." Hiato had tried to argue that he wasn't sick, but a single glare from Pol had dissuaded him from doing so. He complained to Louise and Draggosh when Pol wasn't around, but neither offered much sympathy.

Despite having to drink such horrible things however, Hiato had been in a good mood. He'd spent his time talking to Draggosh and learning all about the ancient times from when Draggosh still had a body. He was happy he had a member of his family to talk to, even if he happened to live inside Louise's head. As Hiato had predicted, Louise had started bombarding Draggosh with questions. The ancient dragon, unfortunately, had to answer every single once, since he didn't want to find out what would happen if his landlord really did start searching for a way to hurt him. In exchange he learnt all about Tristain and the world. He was greatly interested in magic and asked Louise many questions about it. Unfortunately she was unable to answer them all, as she didn't have a complete understanding of magic. Hiato had then stepped in and suggested that she go to a library and research it, more for Draggosh than her. She had agreed, but said she would do it later, when she had time.

For the rest of the time he was walking around, Hiato had been eating lots and LOTS of food. So much in fact, that Karin was seriously worried about going bankrupt from all the money she was spending on food. Hiato hadn't really cared about that, he'd just kept eating.

_"You know eating accelerates his healing rate right?" _Draggosh asked.

_"No... but does he really have to eat so much? He's probably eaten more food in the last 10 minutes than I have in my entire life." _Louise said, sweat dropping as Hiato emptied his 8th bowl of rice into his mouth. _"Yes he does. The more he eats, the faster he heals. Besides, the fact he can eat this much shows his stomach is truly a dragon's stomach!" _Draggosh said, pride clear in his voice. Louise just rolled her eyes and walked off.

It was now the last day. Karin had decided Louise needed to go back to the academy as soon as possible, as everyday she spent at the estate was one more day she fell behind the rest of her year. Hiato had been fine with it, since he'd started getting sick of the estate anyway. Plus he missed Marteau and his cooking, which he considered better than the food at the estate. They would be heading back by carriage, despite Hiato's offer to fly himself and Louise back.

"Come on, we could be there within an hour." Hiato complained as he and Louise climbed into the carriage that was waiting for them. Louise just gave him a stern look.

"No. You aren't fully recovered yet, and for all we know, you could tire out before we get to the academy. I don't want you to push yourself and get another injury. I don't like seeing you hurt." She said, a minor blush coming onto her cheeks as she said the last bit. Hiato blushed in response, and Draggosh chuckled _"You 2 are just so adorable."_ He mused.

_"Shut up." _Louise and Hiato said in unison, albeit with smiles on their faces. They sat next to each other with their hands interlocked. Karin was standing outside the carriage, and despite herself, smiled softly at the sight. "Louise I expect you to be caught up by the end of the week, are we clear?" Karin asked. "Yes mother." Louise responded. Pol was standing nearby, and looked at Hiato.

"Now remember young man, you drink one of those remedies a day for a month or at least until your hand is better." She said sternly, her grey eyes narrowed. "Of course you don't have to, but then I guess I'll just have to come along and watch you drink it everyday for a month." She said, her tone suddenly soft and sweet. Hiato shook his head. "That won't be necessary Mistress Pol. I think I can do it on my own." He said quickly. Pol nodded before turning around to face Karin. "I'll need my pay quickly Karin. I don't have all day to hang around." And with that, she marched off towards the manor. Karin sighed before looking at Louise. "And one other thing..." She started.

"Yes mother?" Louise asked.

"... Please take care of yourself." She said with a softened expression. Louise blinked before slowly nodding. As Karin was about to signal the driver to leave, she heard footsteps. She turned around to see Cattleya and Eleonore making their way towards her, both looking much better. Eleonore was now looking lively, the most serious of her wounds healed, but she still wore a bandage or two under her clothes over the remaining scars. Cattleya had essentially fully recovered, but had been a little weaker recently, confining herself more to her bed now.

"Wait!" They both called out. Karin blinked before scolding herself softly for forgetting to let Louise say goodbye to her sisters before she left. "Louise get out the carriage, you're sisters are here to see you." She said. Louise did so, and motioned for Hiato to remain in the carriage. When she got out, she was pulled into a massive hug by both her older sisters.

"Louise! How could you leave without saying goodbye first?" Cattleya asked playfully but with a hint of seriousness. "Yes how could you? Aren't we you're sisters?" Eleonore asked. Louise looked at her. "What? Can't I say goodbye to my youngest sister?" She asked.

_"She's changed. Since when did she care so much about you?" _Draggosh asked. _"Since... well never really." _Louise responded.

"You can... it's just I..." Louise started.

"Weren't expecting me to bother?" Eleonore finished for her. Louise sheepishly nodded, and prepared for a tongue lashing for Eleonore. Much to her surprise, her older sister laughed. "It's alright. Given how I treated you in the past, I would have been surprised if you'd expected me to actually say goodbye." Eleonore smiled. "Louise, I'd just like to say to you and... Hiato... that I'm sorry. I was wrong in the way I treated you in the past and I hope you can forgive me for it. And also... I approve of Hiato." Eleonore said. Louise just stared at her.

_Did someone hit her on the head or cast a spell to change her personality or something? _Louise wondered.

_"Near death experiences tend to have that kind of effect on people. After all, for a while it did look like she wasn't going to make it." _Draggosh observed. _"Yeah that makes sense, but I mean even for a near death experience, this is a pretty big change for her." _Louise said. _"Are you complaining?" _Draggosh asked. _"Well... not really..."_

_"Then stop worrying about it." _he said.

"I-It's alright Eleonore. But why... um..." Louise started

"The change of heart?" She asked. _"I told you to just drop it." _Draggosh muttered. Eleonore smiled "It's because... Well I just thought about it after I woke up from my injuries. You never really deserved any of it. After all, you did manage to summon an amazing familiar, and that never would have been possible if you really were a zero." She said smiling. "Also the oldest sister has a duty to take care of her younger siblings, not bully them."

Louise just stared at her oldest sister, and Cattleya chuckled. "It appears our older sister has certainly undergone a massive change of heart, wouldn't you agree? I think it suits her." She said. Eleonore glanced at her, an eyebrow raised. "Are you being serious?" She asked. Cattleya nodded. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I?" She asked.

Eleonore narrowed her eyes before laughing. "I suppose that is true. Now Louise, be sure to take good care of yourself, and work very hard to catch up. I don't want to hear my youngest sister fell behind and then failed." Eleonore said in a strict tone. Louise and Cattleya sweat dropped. _Guess she hasn't really changed that much after all _they both thought in unison.

"Hurry up Louise, we don't have all day." Karin said. "Sorry mother." Louise replied, and quickly gave both her sisters hugs. "Goodbye! I'll see you again soon!" She said as she jumped in the carriage. "Goodbye Louise!" Cattleya, Karin and Eleonore said, smiling. Hiato, who had been staring out the window the whole time feeling bored, let out a relived sigh. "Finally..." He muttered. Outside Kairn signalled the carriage to leave. Louise shot him a look. "Sorry." He said. She then smiled and kissed him on the cheek, wrapping her arm around his and holding his hand as the carriage moved off. She closed her eyes "It's alright Hiato" she said as she rested her head on his shoulder. Hiato smiled and rested his head on top of hers, eyes closed. Draggosh smiled, and so did Derf.

As the carriage rolled away, Karin watched it. Her 2 remaining daughters walked up and stood next to her, watching the carriage roll away. "That boy..." Karin said. Eleonore and Cattleya looked at her. "Mother?" They asked in unison.

"That boy is something else. I've never met anyone like him. He just seems to have this air about him that encourages others to change for the better, as you did Eleonore." Karin glanced at her oldest daughter. "And he even managed to affect me. I've been thinking over how I treated Louise in the past... and I regret being so harsh." She then looked again at the carriage that was rolling away. "What I am about to say is something I never thought I would say, but it is the truth of how I feel." She took a deep breath. "... I'm glad Louise summoned who she did. He has managed to change her... for the better. He's made her into someone I could never have hoped to turn her into. I couldn't be prouder of her."

Eleonore and Cattleya looked sharply at their mother, who now had a tear in her one eye. "But mother... what of the war?" Cattleya asked.

"What of it?" Karin asked back.

"What if Louise is conscripted into the army to fight?" Eleonore asked. Karin pondered the question, before looking at her daughters with a smile on her face.

"I do not think we need to worry about that. And if she does..." Karin looked back at the carriage. "... I believe Hiato will be able to take good care of her. After all, I would expect nothing less from the man she loves."

* * *

The trip to the academy went smoothly. Louise and Hiato made idle chat in the carriage, but mostly stayed quiet and simply enjoyed each others company. Draggosh slept, and so did Derf. All the time, Hiato was thinking about Eleonore's sudden change of personality. It confused him how in the space of about 2 weeks, someone could undergo such a massive shift in personality. Maybe it had something to do with-

_"Oh not you too. Please don't think about that okay? Just be grateful she doesn't hate you're guts any more and approves of you marrying Louise." _Draggosh said exasperated.

_"I thought you were asleep."_ Hiato noted. _"I was, until SOMEONE started thinking about something I find annoying. She probably realised she could have died without ever apologizing to Louise for how she behaved. Besides, you seem to have this weird affect on people. You make them turn nice. It's mildly disturbing." _Draggosh observed.

_"Turn nice? That's certainly an apt way to put it." _Hiato said with a small smirk. _"Shut it. I've been asleep for several thousand years, my vocabulary is a bit rusty." _Draggosh snapped. _"Oh, would you like me to give you some lessons then?"_ Hiato asked, his smirk growing wider.

_"Smart ass. No its fine, I'll recover it eventually. Anyway, when do you plan to start training?" _Draggosh asked.

_"As soon as I can. War is coming, and I want to be ready. After all, I actually want to be able to fight Arthur. Dodging around him isn't really fun." _

_"Agreed. It's much better to charge you're opponent head on isn't it? I don't like using dirty or lame tactics."_

_"But sometimes they are necessary._" Hiato observed. _"Yeah they are. However, if you can't achieve you're true power, you'll have to dodge around him anyway. Boosted dragon won't cut it." _Draggosh said. "_We'll sort that out later. Oh have I told you about Osmond?"_ Hiato asked. _"No."_ Draggosh replied. _"Well he's the half bearded headmaster of the academy. He's also old and perverted, much like you in fact."_

_"Shut up."_

Hiato grinned. _"Whatever, at least you didn't deny it." _He pointed out.

_"Yeah yeah, why are you telling me this exactly?"_ Draggosh asked. Hiato shrugged _"Just making conversation grandfather." _Hiato felt a pang of happiness from the ancient dragon, he felt it each time he called him grandfather. Hiato never pointed it out, since he too always smiled when he said that word. "_Wait a second... what are Louise and I?" _He asked.

_"What do you mean?"_ Draggosh asked. _"I mean... in our relationship... what are we?" _Hiato asked.

_"In love?" _Draggosh supplied.

_"No shit Sherlock. You know what I mean." _Hiato said. _"Well... I guess as you 2 stands it's boyfriend and girlfriend, although you never actually asked her out, and just because Louise's mother gave you permission to marry her doesn't mean you're engaged, which means you need to plan that out, and I'm willing to help."_ Draggosh said.

_"Thanks grandfather."_

_"Don't mention it kiddo."_

They were approaching the academy when Hiato thought of the perverted old headmaster. _He isn't so bad. He's learnt his lesson, and I'm sure he'd be a good source of information about magic for Draggosh. _Hiato then thought that perhaps, he should get over the petty rivalry he had with the headmaster. Aside from his perverted tendencies, which he'd stopped out of fear of his mouse being cooked, there wasn't really anything to dislike about the man. Perhaps this was a chance for Hiato to apologize for all the insults he's thrown at the old man, the combustion of his mouse and beard and his humiliation. The chance for a fresh start, the beginning of a possibly great friendship, was there-

Suddenly the door of the carriage flew outwards, and then the head of aforementioned headmaster appeared. He looked left and right, and once he saw Hiato his face twisted into one of sheer rage. "I was wondering when you'd get back flame brain." He snarled, before grabbing Hiato and yanking him out the Carriage.

-Aaaaaaaaaaaaand now its gone.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?" Hiato shot back. The two snarled at each other, Osmonds hands holding onto Hiato's shirt, who had gripped Osmonds robe. "I CALLED YOU A FLAME BRAIN THAT'S WHAT! WANNA KNOW WHY? CAUSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" Osmond roared.

"I'M A WHAT?" Hiato shot back. The two snarled at each other. "W-What's going-" Louise mumbled, leaning out the carriage and looking around. She was cut off by insults from Osmond and Hiato.

"AN IDIOT!"

"SAYS YOU BROOM FACE!"

"BROOM FACE?"

"YEAH! CAUSE YOU'RE BEARD IS A MESS!"

"OVERGROWN FLAME LIZARD"

"PERVERTED OLD MAN"

They then abandoned meaningful insults and just called each other "idiot", "moron", "pervert" or "dumb ass". Their voices got louder and louder, and eventually they abandoned coherent speech in favour of just screaming at each other. Louise was not amused, unlike Draggosh and Derf who were roaring with laughter.

"WOULD YOU 2 SHUT UP?" Louise roared. Unfortunately Hiato and Osmond had either both gone deaf from the volume of their screaming or simply couldn't hear Louise. Seeing trying to beat them in volume was tantamount to suicide and that she was probably going to go deaf soon if they kept screaming, she resorted to the one thing that was sure to get their attention.

**BANG**

"Now are you 2 quite done?" Louise asked as Osmond and Hiato rubbed their heads. They muttered an affirmative, and Louise then glared at Osmond. "Headmaster, why did you come out here?" She asked.

"To tell fire breath that he has to get his friends off my lawn." Osmond said, wincing at the volume of his voice.

"What did you call me?" Hiato snapped, causing him and Osmond to clutch their ears in pain. "Keep it down you idiot." Osmond chided. Hiato was about to retort when Louise smacked him on the back of the head. "Who are his friends?" Louise asked.

"Them." Osmond pointed towards the academy, and Louise's eyes widened. Sitting on the field indicated were the dragons from Albion that Hiato had managed to win over to their side. "H-How long?" She asked.

"Ever since you 2 left for you're estate. Aside from flying off to hunt and shitting all over my lawn, they've done nothing. Tell flame brain to get them to leave." Osmond said. This time Hiato didn't retort, and actually looked sheepish. "hehehe... wow I really am an idiot sometimes aren't I?"

"More than you know." Louise, Draggosh and Osmond said simultaneously. Hiato just laughed sheepishly and stood up. That's when Osmond noticed his left hand, which had slightly more life in it than before. It wasn't so pale, but still looked like it belonged on a corpse.

"What happened?" The headmaster asked, also standing up. "Dragon slayer weapon." Hiato replied. Osmond's eyes went wide. "Dragon slayer weapon?" He asked. "The name says it all Osie. Basically its a weapon that can do a lot of damage to me from really small cuts. This is the result of me grabbing it with my bare hand." Hiato explained. Osmond examined the hand closely. "Interesting... do you have the remains of the weapon?" He asked.

"Unfortunately. I wanted it destroyed, but Louise suggested that we should bring it back to look at it and see if we can think of a way to counter its affects. If you plan to reproduce it however..." Hiato's face darkened, and Louise felt a shiver go down her spine. Osmond threw up his hands defensively. "O-Of course not! I would never think of it! I just simply would like to study it. Nothing more!" He said quickly. Hiato looked at him for a few more seconds before his expression brightened. "I'll take you're word. Now I need to sort those dragon's out." Hiato unfurled his wings and prepared to take off. "Louise head to our room and give Osmond the remains of Burncaliber. I'll be there soon."

Louise nodded. "I Love you." She said.

"I love you too." He responded.

"Wait!"

They both turned to Osmond. "What?" Hiato asked.

"I should probably let you 2 know that war's been declared." Osmond said. They both frowned. "On who?" Louise asked.

"Albion. The princess declared it yesterday. So far neither side has attacked, but the princess asked me to warn you to prepare for the worst. She also asked if you could possibly get the dragon's from Albion to help us in the war. She thinks that with them, and the alliance with Germania and Gallia, if they go through, will most certainly assure us victory, but she warns you to prepare for the worst." Hiato and Louise nodded. "I won't force the dragon's to fight against their will, but I'll try and convince them. Also could you ask Henrietta if she knows of anyone with healing magic?" Hiato asked.

Osmond looked at him sceptically. "I'll try, but I doubt it since only the elves have access to healing magic, and they aren't fond of the idea of helping humans." Hiato frowned but nodded. "Thanks." "_Good idea. Not sure it'll work though, but its worth a shot."_ Draggosh said. Then a shape blocked out the sun, and a certain rhyme dragon landed, carrying Tabitha and Kirche. "Louise!" Kirche yelled, jumping from Sylphids back and sprinting towards the pink head, wrapping her in a hug as she reached her. "We heard about the attack, oh I'm so glad you're okay."

"T-Thanks Kirche..." Louise said, surprised by the redheads sudden hug whilst simultaneously having the life squeezed out of her. "Kirche... too tight..." Louise breathed out. Kirche let her go. "Oh sorry, I forgot how small you were." Kirche said, more in a joking tone than an insulting one. Louise narrowed her eyes, before smiling. "It's alright... Kirche." Louise said. Hiato smiled at the scene _Good to see their getting along_

_"Due in no small part to you."_ Draggosh pointed out. _"Not really... Kirche was going to try and be her friend anyway." _Hiato pointed out.

_"Yeah but if you hadn't convinced Louise to do the same, they'd probably still be enemies." _Draggosh said. Any further conversation was cut off as Sylphid and Tabitha walked up to Hiato. "Hey Tabitha, good to see you."

"Same." Came the blue haired girls response. Sylphid then did something curious, she rubbed her head against Hiato affectionately, confusing him. She then gestured off towards the other dragons. Before Hiato could reply, Draggosh burst into gales of laughter.

_"What's so funny?" _Hiato demanded.

_"My dear boy... it looks like you have a small situation on you're hands."_ Draggosh said between bouts of laughter.

_"What do you mean?" _Hiato demanded, confused and annoyed at his grandfather.

_"I really shouldn't be laughing, but I am.__ Hiato..."_ Draggosh paused from dramatic effect and took a deep breath. _"... she wants to be you're mate."_

Hiato blinked several times, and when he realised what his grandfather meant, he only had one thing to say:

**_"WHAAAAATTTT!?"_**

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Hope you all enjoyed, and please leave a review! Fun fact, I forgot about the dragons when I wrote the chapter where they got back to the academy, and only remembered them after I'd posted the chapter. Instead of going back and changing the chapter however, I decided to make fun of my own forgetfulness and so that segment about Hiato forgetting about the dragon's in a way is a jab I'm making at myself. So yeah... that happened. Anyway, thanks again for reading, hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and I'll see you next time!**

**Sayonara!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello and welcome to chapter 25! Nothing to say, except I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

Hiato stared at Sylphid, completely unsure what to do. The fact that Sylphid wanted to be his _mate_ wasn't exactly something he'd ever thought would happen, or even think about full stop. He wasn't even sure if he should tell Louise. Unfortunately a certain dragon laughing his ass off wasn't helping Hiato concentrate.

"_Could you please stop, I'm in the middle of a serious situation here." _Hiato grumbled, unamused by his grandfather's roaring laughter.

"_Really? I hadn't noticed." _Draggosh replied, still laughing. Hiato then looked at Sylphid and he suddenly found himself feeling very awkward. He was completely unsure what to do, despite the fact he needed to get the situation resolved as soon as possible. It was as if his brain was refusing to think of any logical solution to the problem, or rather it was being blocked out by something else. His entire body felt strange, and for some reason he was starting to forget about Louise.

_"Get a hold of yourself right now." _Draggosh snapped, suddenly serious. Hiato blinked before looking away and without thinking unfurled his wings and took off, flying towards the other dragons. Sylphid huffed in annoyance before following him. _"Right. Hiato I need you to listen to me very carefully. You are currently in a very dangerous situation and need to be careful as to how you handle it." _Draggosh instructed, confusing Hiato.

_"Why are you suddenly so serious?" _He asked, raising an eyebrow at the older dragonoid's shift in tone.

_"Do you want Louise to be heartbroken?"_

Hiato's entire body convulsed for a second at that statement. Suddenly his brain started working at full speed again, and he shook his head violently. If he could, he'd be staring at his grandfather with shock and confusion. _"What are you talking about?" _Hiato demanded, now even more unsure of what exactly was going on.

_"What I'm talking about is what your instincts are doing. She may not be a dragonoid, but she's a dragon which is close enough. Her body's giving off pheromones which is causing your brain to shut down and your instincts to take over. In short, she's basically trying to force you to mate with her." _Draggosh explained, both shocking and confusing Hiato.

_"Wait a second, how does that even work!?" _He demanded.

_"Dragonoids and dragons, when they want to mate, naturally release pheromones which are meant to trigger and encourage the more primal instincts in the opposite gender, more specifically the ones to mate. However 2 things affect how well they work, 1 the age of both dragons. Younger one's are more susceptible because they usually have very little to no control over their instincts, older ones not so much as they usually have managed to gain control of their instincts. The other factor is usually the relationship between the 2 dragons. If they hate each other, nothing will happen and vice versa. Unfortunately for you, since you've only recently gotten you're powers, your instincts are still very much out of control and since you are practically friends with Sylphid, its making the whole situation worse."_

Hiato frowned. _"Does Sylphid know this?" _He asked, thinking over what his grandfather had explained.

_"Probably not. The pheromones can't be released via conscience thought and they don't affect the person releasing them. Like for example, you've been releasing them every time you and Louise are alone together, and frankly enough it makes me a little sick really, but since Louise isn't a dragonoid she doesn't pick up on it. Thankfully you aren't releasing any right now, but even if you were Sylphid wouldn't be able to pick up on it since she's not a dragonoid."_

_"But she does have a human form." _Hiato pointed out.

_"That's different. She can do that because of magic, not because she's actually a human and a dragon genetically. Oh while I'm at it I should also explain something else: you're power isn't magic, its your life force. Basically meaning if anyone tries to drain your magical energy, it'd be like drawing water from an empty well. Back to what I was saying, if you enter dragon form and then start releasing the pheromones, THEN you're in big trouble."_

_"So what do I do?" _Hiato asked.

_"Pay as little attention to her as possible, and keep on thinking about Louise. Think about everything, from her hair, to her face, to the feel of her lips to the feel of her chest pressed aga-"_

_"SHUT UP!" _Hiato snapped, blushing suddenly as all those thoughts rushed into his head, along with an idea where Draggosh was going with his sentence. The ancient dragon simply felt amused at Hiato's outburst. _He's a little too easy to get to sometimes... _He then turned serious again.

"_But I'm being serious. No matter what, you have to ensure that you do NOT let your instincts get the better of you. Unfortunately there is a point past which I won't be able to stop you, so make sure you don't let it get to that point. Also do not show any sign of affection towards Sylphid, it will simply make the situation worse."_

_"Shouldn't we tell Louise?" _Hiato asked.

_"__I'm going to now. Good luck with the dragons." _And then he was gone. Hiato kept his eyes concentrated on the dragons, doing his best to ignore Sylphid. He didn't dare risk looking back, and realised he was practically fighting every second for control of his body. _Bloody hell... why do I always have a hard time? _He though to himself and realised that, for the first time in a while, he once again found himself hating the fact he was a Dragonoid. Sylphid flew closer and nudged him with her head. She noticed he'd been giving him a strange look earlier and then suddenly had taken off without saying anything. She wanted to know why, for some reason, she'd _liked _the look he'd given him. Of course there wasn't much about him she didn't like, despite not knowing much about him. He was strong, kind, handsome and a dragon just like her. It irked her that Louise of all people, the zero, could have such a great person love her.

Hiato shook when Sylphid nudged him and he shot forwards like a rocket before landing by the dragons. Sylphid once more huffed in annoyance before landing next to Hiato. One of the dragons came forwards and bowed its head to Hiato.

"_Greetings. We thank you once more for you're aid in informing us of the humans plans to use us as tools and then throw us away." _The dragon explained. All the others had turned to look at Hiato, and each one was giving him a look of respect.

_"No need to thank me brother, I merely did as was required to help my own kind. Might I ask, are there more of your brothers and sister's who remain in Albion?" _Hiato asked, relieved that Sylphid was both keeping a respective distance and the pheromones had stopped, for now anyway.

"_Unfortunately yes. However, we are sure they will come to our side once we inform them of the truth." _Another dragon said, this one a female. _"We plan to do this as soon as possible, with your consent of course." _

Hiato raised an eyebrow _"Why is my consent necessary?" _He asked.

_"While you may not be from this world, you are still a dragon. More so than that, we can feel the ancient presence and power inside of you. We can feel you are one who deserves and is worthy of leading us dragons. Because of this, we will swear to follow you." _Another dragon said, this one male. At once, all the dragons bowed their heads and spoke as one in a language that Hiato had never used or heard before, but understood perfectly.

"_Mu dovah vaat naal un laas mu fen kiibok hi kotin grah, nid trun paal (__We dragons swear by our life we will follow you into battle, no matter the foe)" _They all chanted at once. Sylphids eyes went wide as she heard them speak. She'd never heard this language before, yet somehow understood it. Her eyes widened even more when Hiato responded in the same language.

"Hi zin zey zeymah ahrk briinah. Rinik pruzah, Zu'u eim Hi los vaat (You honour me brothers and sisters. Very well, I accept you're pledge)" Hiato responded, his voice sounding much deeper than it did previously, and it also sounded like a second voice was speaking at the same time. As one the dragon's raised their heads to look at Hiato. _"Please be aware brothers and sister's that we will be fighting for the humans of this country against those of Albion. If you do not agree to this, I will release you from you're pledge now." _Hiato said now in normal speech, confused as to how the words of the strange yet familiar and powerful language came so easily to him earlier.

"_We do not fight for the humans. We fight for you. If you fight for the humans, so be it. If you do not, so be it. Even if we must face our own kind, those who remain in Albion, we will follow you at all times, Hiato Dragnoras." _The dragons boomed in unison. Hiato's face turned to one of confusion.

_"Dragnoras?"_

_"It's you're real surname. __Higurashi was you're grandmothers surname and I asked her to use that for our daughters surname. My full name is Draggosh Favnir Dragnoras. Yours is Hiato Dragnoras." _Draggosh suddenly chipped in.

_"But wait... how did they know and I didn't?" _Hiato asked, now confused to what his name really is.

"_When you spoke in dragon tongue, they learnt your name. Just like you now know all their names. Also and in case you ask, every dragon and dragonoid knows that language instinctively and is capable of speaking it fluently after only a little practice. You spoke in it because you naturally responded to them speaking in it. Honestly I'm surprised that actually carried across dimensions, but also glad. They won't break that pledge because if they do, they'll be less than dragons, since doing so would be a horrible betrayal. Well if the same standards of honour apply in this universe that is." _Draggosh explained. _"I'd prefer you to refer to yourself with you're real surname from now on, Hiato Dragnoras."_

Hiato blinked, suddenly feeling unsure and yet happy at the same time. He didn't really know how to handle learning he'd been using a fake surname his whole life. _Well... I guess I'll just have to get used to it. _Hiato thought to himself. He then returned his attention to the dragons in front of him.

"_I thank you Gawaine. I will endeavour to lead you and your brothers and sisters to victory. I thank you all for having faith in me and allowing me to be your leader. May I make a request of you?" _Hiato asked. _"Of course." _Gawaine, the dragon directly in front of him, replied.

_"May Louise, my mate-" _He shot a look at Sylphid "_-and I train with you in preparation for the upcoming war?" _He asked.

_"We would be honoured to train with you Hiato." _Gawaine replied. _"My thanks." _Hiato replied. _"The human who leads the academy does not appreciate your presence here, brothers and sisters. Might I ask if you may move to a nearby mountain?" _He asked.

_"There is no need for you to ask. We will follow you're orders without you needing to ask us to do so, but we appreciate you asking us instead of ordering." _All the dragon's nodded respectfully before they all took off, flying off towards the forest and presumably a mountain. Hiato turned around and looked at Sylphid.

"I want to get this cleared up. Louise is my mate and I've chosen her. I am asking you kindly to please leave me alone Sylphid." Hiato said sternly. Sylphid narrowed her eyes before sneaking forwards and rubbing her head against Hiato, causing him to freeze. Instinctively he wanted to rub her on the head, but his brain was screaming at his body not to do so. His hand slowly began moving upwards, slowly began reaching towards the rhyme dragon's head. He could feel his concious control slipping.

_No get a hold of yourself! Think about Louise... think about Louise... think about Louise..._

Hiato quickly filled his mind with thoughts of the girl he loved. He felt his hand stop moving, and managed to take a few steps back and shook his head before glaring at Sylphid. "I told you to stop it."

_"Oh I get it now. You can't control you're instincts, that's why your acting so weird." _Sylphids voice echoed inside his head. Hiato narrowed his eyes. _"Which means if I can catch you off guard, your mine."_

_"I've told you once, and I'll tell you again, Louise is my chosen mate so Leave. Me. Alone." _Hiato said.

_"Fine I will. For now anyway." _She said slyly. Before she could do anything Hiato opened his wings and took off towards the academy. Huffing, Sylphid followed him.

* * *

Hiato landed in the main courtyard where Louise, Tabitha and Kirche were waiting. The blue haired girl immediately dashed over to see how Sylphid was doing. Louise walked over and Hiato gave her a kiss before she could say anything. Kirche smiled at the affection between the two and walked over.

"Hey Hiato. Been a while hasn't it? I heard you were out cold for a week." She smirked. "You certainly are lazy aren't you?" She teased.

"Live it up, live it up, I'd just had an intense fight okay?" Hiato replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Not to mention did something incredibly stupid." Louise chipped in.

"Oh not you too." Hiato said, faking despair. "And besides, I thought it was well established by now I tend to do stupid shit."

"Clearly." Louise and Kirche said in unison. They then grinned at each other before laughing. _Dear God what have I done..._ Hiato thought.

_"Created your own personal hell?" _Draggosh supplied.

_"I guess. Oh did you tell her?"_

_"Yeah. She was not amused. She said 'if that dragon thinks she can take away the man I love then she is surely mistaken' in a very, VERY loud voice. Unfortunately this means the 2 won't be able to exist in a room without armed conflict erupting. Have fun with that."_

Hiato paled. He did not want to imagine what would happen if Louise got angry and decided to have a fight with Sylphid. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He then looked around and frowned.

"Where is everyone? Well more specifically all the guys?" Hiato asked.

"Oh haven't you heard? All the boys from the academy were conscripted into the army. The remaining students will still have lessons as usual though but we have to be ready to be called up at any moment." Kirche explained. Hiato frowned, not exactly sure using school boys as soldiers was a good idea. _I could tell Henrietta I've got the dragon's on our- well my side and then have her send the boys back._

"I don't see the point in that. I've managed to get the dragons to agree to help me in the war and I may even get more to help. I could go ask Henrietta to send them back." Hiato explained. Kirche, Louise and Tabitha looked at him. "Really? How?" Kirche asked.

"I asked them basically. They promised to help me and that was it." Hiato said, remembering his promise to keep Draggosh's identity and presence a secret.

"I'm guessing it wasn't that hard." Kirche remarked.

"Not really. They really respect me after I told them about what the Order and the Reconquista wanted to do. And I got them to agree to train with me and Louise, which is awesome since I'll get a chance to train my powers better now." Hiato said, a smirk spreading across his face as he remembered he would start serious training soon.

"Good to hear." Louise commented. Hiato smiled at her and she smiled back. Louise then suddenly hurled a glare at Sylphid.

"Stay away from Hiato." She snapped. The dragon narrowed its eyes at the pink haired wizard.

_"Make me." _Sylphid replied. Louise and Sylphid then proceeded to have an intense staring match, prompting Hiato and Kirche to sweat drop.

"Oh right... well this is going to be fun." Hiato remarked dryly.

"We should do something before the academy gets destroyed." Kirche said.

"Tabitha! Could you please ask your dragon to leave before Louise tries to kill it?" Hiato asked the blue haired mage, who simply frowned at him. "Why?" She asked. Hiato sighed. "Because now your familiar wants to be my... mate and Louise doesn't like that idea nor do I so she's probably going to fight your dragon about it."

Tabitha's eyes widened. She then shot a look at Sylphid, who felt the glare and looked at her master. She bowed her head and turned around before flying off.

"Thanks Tabitha. Now if you could convince her to stay away from me all the time, that'd be great." Hiato said cheerfully. Tabitha turned to look at him.

And then she smiled.

* * *

Arthur looked down at the paper on his desk. He quickly signed it at the bottom, his name in large, extravagant cursive. He stood up from his desk and walked to the window. He looked out at the capital of Albion, his new headquarters. The next phase of his plan was starting now, and he couldn't resist smirking. Once it all fell into place, this world would fall to its knees in front of him.

"Soon... the ritual will be complete."

* * *

**And that's the chapter! No there isn't going to be a love square between Hiato, Louise, Sylphid AND Tabitha. She's just going to become a good friend to Hiato, no romance at all. Also for the dragon Language bit, if you get where it comes from then you're awesome. If you don't, you're still awesome cause you read my story. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review telling me what you thought. Anyway thanks for reading and I will see you in the next chapter!**

**Cheerio!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello and welcome to chapter 26! Thanks again for all the reviews, favourites, follows and just views, you are all awesome for reading this story of mine and it means a lot to me. Now then, on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

"Checkmate."

Arthur sighed as he looked at the chessboard and the trap his king was in. He'd been overconfident early in the game and it had cost him severely, as he'd lost his queen, 1 knight and bishop and both his rooks in exchange for his opponents 2 knights. It had been a stupid move, and when Arthur had realised his blunder, he practically slapped himself for stupidity. "Yes but if I hadn't thrown my queen and rooks away I would have won."

"'If' and 'but' are the favourite words of a loser my friend." The other man said, his grey eyes filled with glee at his victory. Physically he wasn't a very impressive man standing at 5'8 with a thin, weak frame. His short grey hair which was cut short was very thin on the top of his small head and the pasty white skin underneath became fully visible whenever there was so much as a stiff breeze. It contributed to his staying in doors so much. His face bore no scars, but one could tell this man was not one who liked the outdoors. His nose was crooked, his jawline set and sharp and his eyes were sunken into his face. He currently wore a dark purple cloak which reached down to his feet and had white feathers along the edges. Underneath he wore a black buttoned shirt and pants, both with gold buttons. He gave off an air of arrogance and superiority that Kingsley hated. He was the former head chamberlain of the late Joseph, and strangely enough had been happy to hear of the kings death. He'd been the one keeping up the façade that the king was on holiday with his family.

"Indeed they are, but a general is not always victorious and must be able to recognize their mistakes. Isn't that true Jean?" Arthur asked. The man's full name was Jean Colinius, rather short but Arthur didn't complain, he liked short names, they were easy to remember.

"Yes they are my friend, but there is a fine line between noticing your mistakes and making excuses." He replied. He grinned to reveal a mouth nearly half full of gold teeth. Jean flouted his wealth at any opportunity, which was one of the things Arthur hated about the man. He had gold and diamond rings on each of his fingers, and often would admire them in a way that made it look like he was showing off to Arthur. As much as Arthur hated the man however, he was stuck with him since he was the former chief advisor to Joseph, Arthur's late 'master'. He knew everything there was to know about Gallia, and thus it made him essential for Arthur's plans. That still didn't shake the feeling Arthur had that the moment his schemes succeeded, he'd find Jean sticking a dagger into his back and taking it all for himself. He didn't care much for Arthur's ultimate goal, he just wanted more wealth and power in Gallia, he didn't care much for the rest of the world.

"I am aware of that Jean. However remember it was a simple miscalculation on my part."

"Indeed. A rather large miscalculation if I may say so myself. You say you are a military genius? My friend, I believe your skills are getting rusty."

"Are you giving me a lecture about strategy?"

"Why indeed I am my friend."

Arthur gritted his teeth and glared at Jean. Almost nothing could make him angry, and even less annoy him but Jean had the ability to annoy Arthur greatly with the least amount of effort possible. The way he said 'My friend' in such an annoying and superior way often made Arthur think of ways to deal with the man once he was no longer needed. Many of them involved very violent methods of death. While Arthur could probably carry out his plans without Jean, it would be much harder to do so. He'd underestimated the difficulty (and annoyance) of the Gallian political system, but Jean had made it a very easy process. Of course since the man was as sly as a snake, he handled it all in privacy so Arthur didn't learn a thing.

"Well I do not need it. When the time comes, I will not make mistakes. Besides I wasn't taking this seriously."

Jean raised an amused eyebrow. "You weren't taking it seriously? Then why my friend did you almost turn the table on its head when you discovered your mistake. Your temper could be your downfall, learn to keep it in check my friend."

Arthur glared at him. _Of all the people in the world, why did I get stuck with him? Of course I can't punch his face in otherwise he won't help me, but God knows it's tempting. _Arthur thought. "As I said, a simple mistake, one I will not make in the future."

"As you say my friend. Speaking of which, I wish to discuss our plans."

_Since when are they yours? _"Yes what of them? They are in motion and will soon bear fruit. I do not believe anyone can stop us." Arthur asked, trying his hardest to hide his irritation. "Our army marches on Tristain and cannot be stopped."

"That is your mistake my friend. Believing your plans are perfect and no one can foil them already sets you up for failure. Also isn't there one who can stop you? What was his name again? Hmm... Hiato Higurashi? Ah yes, that's the name. Didn't you send your pet assassin with that sword after him and he failed? Clearly that shows your plans are stoppable after all my friend." Jean said with a smirk.

Arthur intensified his glare, gritting his teeth. While Arthur had maintained an outward look of indifference, deep down he had been troubled. By all logic, it should have been impossible for Hiato to win, and yet somehow he had. However when he logically thought about it, it wasn't such a big deal since Ascalon was on a whole different level from Burncaliber, and once his plan succeeded, it would be even greater and he'd be able to strike Hiato down in an instant. However whenever Jean brought it up, it immediately annoyed Arthur that the plan had failed.

"He was not my pet assassin. He was my former second in command. And yes, it was unexpected but it is not a cause for concern since Ascalon will be able to deal with Hiato with ease."

"Oh is it? Well now that you only have one weapon left that can kill the boy, surely you should be worried my friend. After all, evil never wins you know."

Arthur's eyebrows shot up. "What are you talking about? And what do you mean by evil?" He then narrowed his eyes. "You make it sound like you aren't even on my side." He said threateningly.

"Oh I am... for now at least." Jean stood up before he walked to the door, talking as he went. "I'm a business man, I'll help you as long as I see it profitable to myself. If you start to lose... well I may have a sudden change of heart. And yes I used the word evil to describe you. I could be wrong, you could be the good guy, and Hiato is the bad guy. It all depends, although I prefer a different view. I see the world in various shades of grey, there is no true good or true evil. Some people are darker than others, and others are lighter than others, but no one is truly black or white. Everyone has a dark side, and a light side." He stopped at the door. "After all, I have my own agenda. For now, what you do goes along with it. Once it no longer does however, I may simply leave you, or take action against you."

Arthur stood up in anger before he smirked. "Oh really? What you're saying sounds rather like treason. I could tie you up, then it doesn't matter whether you see helping me as profitable or-"

He was cut off by the sound of psychotically amused laughter, which sent a chill down Arthur's spine. "Do you really believe you could do that? You take _me_ prisoner?" He laughed again. "Oh my, you make the best jokes my friend." He then adopted a serious expression for the first time. "If you try to do anything to me, you will find that _I_ can be a _much_ more terrifying opponent than Hiato can be." He then resumed his previous expression. "Well I have business to attend to, good day my friend. I will be around later to discuss our plans." He then turned and left the room. Arthur sank down into his chair, his brow furrowed in thought. He thought about what Jean had said to him, and how casually he had stated his plan to turn his back on Arthur the moment his plans failed. Arthur then realised a potentially fatal mistake he had made by asking Jean for help. He looked up at the door, feeling uneasy for the first time in his life.

_Jean... you bastard. Just what are you really in this for?_

* * *

An explosion erupted where Hiato had been less than 2 seconds ago. He flew forwards and stretched his hand out and pushed with all his strength to the right the moment his palm was fully on the ground. Another explosion erupted as he flew sideways, the shock wave accelerating him slightly. He back flipped and landed on his feet before glancing upwards, his breathing short and rapid. Sweat coated his body and his hair felt thick and itchy on the top of his head. He didn't have long to rest however, as one of the dragons was flying straight at him, ready to strike. He grunted before flapping his wings and hurling his body to the left, avoiding the dragons attack. His respite was short lived as the dragon lifted his head and launched a fireball at him. Hiato barely managed to dodge, his arms, legs and wings all heavy from exhaustion. He decided to fly up to try and gain some kind of temporary safety.

How wrong he was.

When he got just over 10 feet off the ground, he had to dodge a combination of dragon's, fireballs and rocks which were all flying at him. He swore when a rock grazed his cheek and left a line of blood leading across his face. He didn't have long to dwell on it though, as he spun to the right to dodge another fireball. He flapped his wings, gaining a little more altitude to dodge another dragon. Down again to dodge a fireball, to the left to dodge a rock, down again to dodge another claw swipe from a dragon and a right to dodge a-

***THUMP***

Hiato was sent hurtling forwards when a fireball collided with his back and exploded. Before he could recover a dragon swatted him into the ground and a crater formed when he impacted. He climbed to his knees and spread his wings, panting heavily. He tried to stand, only for his legs to give out and cause him to collapse onto the ground, his whole body burning with pain. The dragons landed around the crater, chief among them was Gawaine, Hiato's second in command. Hiato lifted his head and smiled weakly at the dragon, his hair stuck to his forehead and his clothes covered in dirt. His green eyes were still as bright and cheery as ever though, and his brown hair was slowly turning more and more red.

_"Most impressive Hiato. You have excellent reaction times and speed, although your endurance needs to be worked on." _Gawaine praised. The other dragons nodded as well, and a few started to breath fire onto Hiato so he could recover.

_"Thanks. I agree, I need to build up strength so I can last longer in a fight. Although I doubt when I'm fighting I'll need to do so much dodging." _Hiato responded, getting to his feet as his energy was restored by the fire he was absorbing. This was a method of training he, Draggosh and Gawaine had come up with. Hiato would try and dodge attacks (including fire, although he isn't allowed to absorb it) for as long as he can to see how much endurance and speed he really had. He would be doing this as much as he could until either side made a major move in the war. Germania had yet to commit any troops, meaning that if Albion were to attack now, it would be just Tristain's army against them. For some reason Gallia was refusing to join in an alliance, and had officially declared peace with Albion. This had raised a few eyebrows, but apparently the king of Gallia was away on holiday so Henrietta couldn't reach him.

This basically meant for Hiato and Louse that the "Dragon crops" as dubbed by Henrietta or the "Dragon force" as dubbed by Hiato was basically supposed to be permanently ready to jump into battle at any time. It meant that Hiato had to train as much as he could in the short time he had. He also fought with the dragon's, but that wasn't what he was currently doing or about to do. Also he'd managed to convince Henrietta to send all the boys from the academy that didn't want to fight back, although it basically amounted to nothing since none of them wanted to go back.

"_Don't be so sure. Remember your escape from Albion? You did a lot of dodging there." _Draggosh supplied _"And my guess is that Albion's just gonna have more of those ships, so you really need to work on your dodging, otherwise you'll be blown to pieces."_

_"Hey I was low on energy cause I'd just fought Wardes."_

_"Excuses, excuses. You need to be ready, as does Louise."_

_"Oh yeah how's her training going?"_

***BOOM*******

_"Does that answer your question?"_

_"Yes." _Hiato looked over at where the explosion had come from. He sweat dropped at the large cloud of smoke rising from nearby. _She could learn to hold back a bit when she trains... the dragons DO need a place to live after all, and this mountain is rather nice _He thought. Louise had been training as hard as she could over the last 3 days, and was always exhausted afterwards. Hiato glanced across the rocky area to see Tabitha and Sylphid sitting watching the training session. The reason Tabitha was there was so that she could keep Sylphid in check, although that hadn't always worked. The previous day Hiato had gone out into the forest at the bottom of the mountain and Sylphid had ambushed him and nearly succeeded in making him lose control. Thankfully Tabitha had intervened and saved her new friend. As for Kirche... she was still at the academy. Guiche was currently in the army.

_"We will continue training in a short while. Me and my brothers must rest for a time." _Gawaine said. Hiato nodded at him.

_"Of course. Inform me when you are ready to train again please." _The dragon nodded before moving off. Hiato walked over to Tabitha, smiling at the blue haired girl, who responded with a small smile. "Hey Tabitha how you doin'?"

"Good." She replied. Hiato resisted the urge to sigh. He'd been trying to get her to say more than one word at a time, and sometimes he felt like he was making progress, but other times he felt like he was smashing his head against a wall.

_"At least you can break the wall." _Draggosh quipped.

"Good to hear." he then glanced at Sylphid who looked at him seductively. "Stop it." was all he said. She narrowed her eyes and before she could do anything more he looked back at Tabitha. "So why are you out here?" He asked. Tabitha looked at him, and Hiato noticed she seemed to be struggling with something.

"Watching, you, train." She said. Whenever she said more than three words she'd always break them up like that. _Well it's progress I guess _Hiato thought. He walked over and sat on a rock opposite her. He looked at the girl and smiled. He wondered why she was always so quiet, but he knew better than to ask questions that might be too personal or pry into someone's past. He preferred to simply let them open up on their own.

"So what do you think?" He asked, referring to the training. "Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself." Tabitha nodded. "So do you think my dragonoid powers are cool?"

Tabitha responded with a nod, causing Hiato to sigh. "Do you want to join in on the training?" He asked. Tabitha and Sylphid looked at him. "What? I'm just asking." The 2 kept looking at him before they nodded. Hiato blinked. "Okay... so is that a yes?"

"Yes. I would like to train with you to become stronger." Tabitha said. She then realised that she'd said a full sentence, and looked away embarrassed. Hiato smiled. "Good to see you're coming out of your shell. You should try to speak more often, there's really nothing wrong with it." He said. Tabitha just looked at him and couldn't help but smile.

"Boo."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH" Hiato screeched in a high pitched voice and flew several feet backwards. Louise collapsed laughing at the pitch of Hiato's voice, and Hiato responded by glaring at her.

"Not funny. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

_"And it was bloody hilarious." _Draggosh quipped between his gales of laughter. Hiato pouted and looked away from Louise, who had gotten up and walked over.

"I'm sorry." She said, despite the grin on her faces and tears of laughter running down her cheeks. Hiato glanced at her before he huffed and looked away.

"I don't believe you." He huffed. Louise pouted at him. "I really am."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"Am not."

"Am too."

"Am not."

"Am too."

The two continued like this for several minutes until Gawaine called Hiato over for his second training session. He gave Louise a kiss before he walked off. Louise was about to go over to her second one when Tabitha walked up to her.

"Tabitha is something wrong?" The pinkette asked. Tabitha shook her head. "No. I want to train with you."

Louise just looked at her. She then smiled. "Sure, why not? I think for what's coming, we all need some training." Tabitha nodded. "I Agree." She said. Louise and Tabitha then walked over to the training spot where one of the dragons was waiting.

"_Who is this?" _It asked.

_"A friend. She wishes to train with us. May she?"_

_"Of course. Now then, are you ready young ones? The next session is not going to be easy as you will be trying to fight me and my brother off."_

Louise and Tabitha got into battle positions. They heard an explosion from over where Hiato was training, followed by a "Dragon roar". The two girls looked at each other before nodding.

"Yes. We're ready."

"_Very well then. Let us begin."_

* * *

**And that's the chapter! Thanks again for reading and please tell me what you thought! Also feel free to point out errors or mistakes I made. Anyway we're moving into the war in the next chapter, so things are gonna get really exciting from then onwards! I'm really looking forward to writing all of that. Anyway, thanks for reading, you are awesome for reading this, and you just awesome for being you. Long story short, you're awesome. Remember that. Anyway, I'll see you next time!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello and welcome to chapter 27! Hope you enjoy! Oh also I've changed stuff around and introduced some characters sooner than in the actual show, but remember I have pretty much thrown the canon story line out the window with an anchor attached to its foot into the middle of the ocean.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure?" Henrietta asked Agnes Chevalier de Milan. The commander of the musketeer squad nodded gravely.

"Several of their ships were seen attacking villages. From what I've heard, they leave nothing behind your highness. Our forces are already assembled and awaiting your word." The other women replied.

"And what of Hiato and his dragon's?"

"He is ready and waiting to move out your highness. Although may I ask, how exactly was he able to convince the _dragons _of Albion's military to join us?"

"To join him." Henrietta corrected

"Join him? What do you mean your highness?" Agnes asked, frowning.

"Yes him. The dragon's made it perfectly clear that they follow him, not me. Also as for how... well he is a very unique familiar, as I've told you before." She said. She was aware of Agnes's dislike for fire mages, and while Hiato wasn't a mage, he still used fire, which Henrietta guessed would probably be enough for him to qualify on Agnes's list of people she didn't like. Said women eyed the princess sceptically but decided not to push the subject.

"Very well then. I trust that he will be able to help us. I ask for your permission to leave and begin moving out the troops to deal with the attack."

"Permission granted. Be sure to inform Hiato to begin moving his dragon's to meet up with your forces, and stop the enemy as soon as you can. Time is of the essence. Once I am finished with my business here I will join up with you and lead the army. Until then, it's in your hand Agnes."

Agnes gave a swift bow before turning and leaving the room. Henrietta sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Things are never easy are they?"

The princess turned her head and smiled when she saw Wales. Ever since being rescued, he'd given the Tristiainian army as much information about Albion's army as possible in order to help with the war. His initial anger had faded, now replaced with grim determination to return home to Albion. As for their relationship... Henrietta blushed as she thought of how only a week ago he'd proposed to her and she'd accepted. They hadn't confirmed a date for the wedding, but she was sure it would be after the war.

_If we're still alive that is._

"No it never is, is it?" She replied with a smile. Wales walked over and gave her a quick kiss. Henrietta returned it, and they broke apart smiling. "But with you here, I'm sure I can handle it."

"Of course. I did fall in love with the strongest women in the world after all, I'd expect nothing less."

Henrietta laughed at his compliment. "I'm pretty sure Louise is a lot stronger than I am. After all, she has to be to put up with Hiato all the time." she said. Wales chuckled. "Yeah. He does tend to create havoc wherever he goes. Are you sure enlisting him won't cause serious collateral damage?"

"No, but hopefully he won't be fighting near any cities." Her face then turned serious. "Any word from Germania or Gallia?"

Wales stood up and walked across the room to sit down. "Yes and no. Germania's forces are on their way but won't be here for a few more days. As for Gallia... still no response. Their king is still on vacation apparently and his chief advisor Jean is running the kingdom." Wales said gravely. Henrietta felt her stomach sink at the mention of Jean's name. He was infamous for just how corrupted and scheming he was, and how someone like him had ever been appointed in such a high position boggled the minds of many. He made alliances and went back on them, he lied, cheated and stole, he killed anyone in his path and didn't care for anything except money.

And that wasn't even the worst of it.

"Has he made any form of contact with us?" Henrietta asked. Wales flinched. "Yes but it was... rather disgusting." Wales responded with clear disgust in his voice.

"How so?" Henrietta asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"He said, and I'm paraphrasing here, 'if you want me to send you troops while my king is away, you'll have to get your princess to be my mistress.'" Wales said with disgust. Henrietta felt her stomach turn.

"And what he really said is about a hundred times worse. I actually burned the letter after I read it and nearly threw up, that man knows no decency." Wales said with clear disgust. "Let us not speak of that any longer. Thinking of it makes me feel disgusted." Henrietta asked. Wales nodded with no argument. "So how many are Germania sending?"

Wales actually smiled. "About half their total military force, along with supplies and equipment. They said they'd send more, but they have to watch their own borders as well."

"Half is more than enough. If Gallia joins in, Albion will be liberated with almost no difficulty." Henrietta declared. Wales nodded in approval before smirking. "Although we may have to hold off on one part of the invasion."

Henrietta raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"

"We may need to let Hiato have his way with the Order. I don't think he will be very pleased if we destroy it instead of him. He certainly is remarkable isn't he?"

"Indeed. From what I've heard he managed to convince Louise's mother to allow her to decide her own future husband."

Wales just stared at Henrietta. He'd heard of the strictness of Karin Valliere, and how she was basically impossible to sway once she made her mind up about something. "That most certainly is a grand achievement. Whom do you think Louise will take as a husband?"

Henrietta just looked at him.

"Oh... right." He smiled. "They are perfect for each other, aren't they? Much like you and me." he said, electing a blush from the princess. "Now you're just flattering me, but I don't mind." Before she could continue a guard opened the door.

"Forgive my intrusion, but there is a women who wishes to see you. She simply identifies herself as 'T'" The guard stated. Henrietta smiled. "It is of no concern. Please let her in."

"At once!" The guard declared. "RETRIEVE THE VISITOR!" He yelled at the top of his lungs at the man standing next to him, who winced and held his hands up to his ears. "Geez John I'm right next to you, not on a bloody mountain 5 miles away."

"MY APOLOGIES SEAN, NOW PLEASE FETCH THE VISITOR."

"I JUST SAID STOP SHOUTING YOU IDIOT."

"MY APOLOGIES, NOT PLEASE FETCH TH-"

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID SCREAMING PRICK I'M GOING!" The other guard yelled back before turning and practically sprinting down the corridor. John watched him leave before turning to look at Wales and Henrietta, the former looking at the guard like he was an asylum resident.

"My apologies your highness. Please forgive me, I tend to get a little loud when talking to my colleagues."

"It's all right. Wales this is John, one of my personal body guards."

"A pleasure to meet you Prince Wales." John gave a bow. He was a man of average height with brown hair and blue eyes. Before Wales could reply, the other guard returned, now followed by a blond haired _very _well endowed girl wearing a strange hat. "I'm back..." Sean said.

"EXCELLENT. YOU MANAGED TO FETCH HER MOST QUICKLY MY GOOD SIR."

"WOULD YOU CAN IT WITH THE SHOUTING?"

"MY APOLOGIES, I WILL ENDEAVOUR TO-"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Sean roared back. The girl was now holding her hands to her ears due to the volume of John's yelling. "My apologies milady. Would you be so kind as to enter? The princess wishes to see you." The girl nodded and quickly entered the room, wishing to escape the screaming of the possibly insane body guard. Sean quickly closed the door, and was treated to another bout of John's yelling, which surprisingly was almost inadmissible through the door.

"Are you sure it's safe for him to be your guard?" Wales asked with a raised eyebrow. Henrietta nodded. "Aside from the shouting, which he only does to other guards, he's very good at his job. He never gets patrols at night, and my door has a spell on it to block out his shouting when its not urgent. In fact, the entire castle has it so he doesn't annoy people." Henrietta added dismissively. Wales sweat dropped before turning his attention to the girl now standing by the door. Henrietta did the same, albeit she was smiling.

"It's good to see you again Tiffania."

* * *

_*several days later*_

Hiato sighed and looked around. Currently he and his small army of Dragon's were on their way to a rendezvous point with the Tristain army, which was currently marching west in order to counter the push the Reconquista was making into the country. The plan was simple: meet up and then push west, destroying any enemy forces found. Hiato wasn't exactly a general, so he'd been talking at great length with Draggosh and Gawaine on how to best have his dragons fight. Draggosh had supplied the majority of the information, and the main over-riding thing he suggested was that the dragons take on the air forces and leave the ground forces for the Tristain army to fight. Most of the more technical terms had given Hiato a headache, and so Draggosh had simplified it in a way that Hiato found _very _easy to understand.

"_If it flies, burn it. If it walks, burn it and then crush it. If it does both... burn it, crush it and then burn it some more."_

Hiato adjusted his wings slightly. He was in full dragon form, and he was surprised to find his body was larger then he remembered it to be. Apparently the training he'd been doing had increased the size of his body while he was a dragon since his power had gone up. He was now slightly bigger than Gawaine, who was a bit larger than Sylphid.

"Are we there yet?"

_"No Louise we aren't, for the fifth time. Have a little patience please, we can't fly much faster than this without tiring ourselves out." _Hiato responded. He rolled his eyes so he could see Louise who was currently sitting on his neck. She wasn't really curious about if they were there yet or not, she was just teasing Hiato a little.

"Oh come on, you're telling me you're this slow?" Louise asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Hiato narrowed his eyes to slits.

_"Are you insulting my speed?"_

"Maybe... ."she replied with a smirk. Hiato then had an ingenious idea for how to get her back. _This is gonna make her so mad, but it'll be funny._

_"Don't forget she IS on your back, and she probably could do some serious damage." _Draggosh said with amusement.

_"I haven't. Trust me, this is gonna be hilarious._

_"Well maybe if I wasn't carrying you on my back then maybe I'd be able to move faster." _Hiato replied with a smirk. Louise looked at him before the meaning of his words sunk in, and she felt her temper rise.

"Excuse me, but are you saying something about my weight?" She asked dangerously. "_Maybe..." _Hiato said. Louise glared at him intensely.

"Are you?" she demanded.

_"Maybe... maybe not..." _Hiato said calmly. Louise glared at him before smirking, throwing him off guard.

"Okay then. For that, you have to sleep outside for a week. And also only half sized meals." She said with an evil smile on her face. Hiato just stared at her whilst Draggosh was hosing himself with laughter at how Louise had turned the situation on Hiato.

"_You're not serious..."_

"I am perfectly serious." Louise said, her evil look growing. "And nothing you can do can convince me to change my mind."

"_Louise I-"_

She tsch'd him several times, waving her finger. "No apologising, you said it and now you have to live with the consequences of doing so."

_"Can I just say, kind of a dick moving insulting her weight like that Hiato." _Draggosh added, still highly amused.

_"Shut up."_

They continued flying until the army came within sight. Currently it was in a massive column and heading westward pretty quickly. Hiato sent a quick message to the other dragons and they all fell in behind him. He flew to the head of the column, where he assumed the commander would be. Hiato landed several meters in front of the army, which stopped upon seeing him. Louise jumped off his back before he switched back to normal, revealing Derf strapped across his back.

"That's still weird..." The talking sword muttered, referring to the strange process of storage which he goes through when Hiato fully transforms whilst the sword is on his back.

"You'll get used to it."

"I doubt it." The sword grumbled.

Hiato shrugged before walking towards the column, Gawaine on his left and Louise on his right. 3 horses rode out from the army, and Hiato frowned when he saw a white dragon fly over and land. Hiato saw that its rider was a man with blond hair and... 2 different coloured eyes. _Right... now I really have seen everything. _Hiato thought. He then examined the women on the middle horse. She had brown hair, and then he looked at the man on the second last horse...

"Guiche!" Hiato called out with a grin. Guiche returned the grin before calling out as well.

"Hiato! Good to see you again!" The horses and dragon stopped, and Guiche jumped off his horse before running over to Hiato. "Good to see you're allright. I heard about what happened at your families estate Louise. I wish I could have said goodbye, but I never got the chan-"

Hiato raised his hand to silence him. "It's okay Guiche. Besides it's not like we weren't going to see each other again anyway." Hiato said with a grin.

_"I hate goodbyes." _Draggosh added in, sounding sad. Hiato was about to reply when Guiche kept talking to him.

"So yeah, I'm in the army now! Pretty cool isn't it?" Guiche said with a grin. Hiato looked at him. _Since when did he speak like that? _He then shrugged.

"Good to see, although please do me a favour and don't get yourself killed." Hiato said. Guiche looked at him with an offended look.

"I find that insulting."

"Good to know."

The two grinned at each other. Agnes dismounted and walked over. "Hello. I am Agnes Chevalier de Milan, leader of the musketeer force. I assume you are Hiato Higurashi?" She asked. Hiato blinked before he sweat dropped.

_Right... she doesn't know my surname changed. "_Yeah that's me, although it's Dragnoras, not Higurashi." When Agnes raised an eyebrow Louise cut in. "It's a long story and we don't have time to explain." Agnes looked at them sceptically but didn't say anything.

"So this is the beautiful Louise I have heard so much about!" The boy who'd been riding the dragon exclaimed. He walked up to Louise and bowed. "Greetings. I am Julio Chesare, and I am honoured to be in the presence of such a beautiful woman." He then reached forwards and was about to kiss Louise's hand when suddenly it was snatched away. He looked up and took a step back when he saw Hiato glaring at him, the air around him shimmering and his eyes _very _clearly conveying what would happen if Julio tried to touch Louise again.

"Keep. Your. Hands. Off. Her." Hiato said, practically growling. Julio raised an eyebrow. "Oh? My apologies, you must be Hiato Higu- I mean Dragnoras. You are Louise's familiar, are you not?" He asked.

"Yes I am. And also Louise is my _mate_ as well, so if you try _anything..._ you may find that head of hair you have _spontaneously _combusting, along with that face of yours." Hiato growled, his killing intent clear. Julio held his hands up. "My apologies, I just saw her beauty and I was unable to-"

Hiato lit his hand on fire and held it in front of Julio's face, earning a shocked look from Agnes and Julio. "Say one more thing, and that combustion I was talking about is going to be a _lot_ more sudden." Before Julio could reply, Agnes grabbed Hiato's arm. He looked at her and his eyes widened when he saw her eyes were filled with anger and hate.

"You're a fire wizard aren't you?" She hissed. Hiato blinked. "No I'm not." He then pulled his hand free of Agnes's grasp. "I'm actually a dragonoid. I don't even use magic."

"But you still use fire." She hissed. Hiato raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"I hate fire."

_"I think its about time we got moving isn't it?" _Draggosh asked.

"_Yeah it is." _Hiato looked at Agnes. "Look I don't know what you have against fire wizards or mages or whatever but I'm not a wizard or a mage. We need to work together if we're going to pull through this, so put your grudge on the shelf for now, got it?" Hiato asked the musketeer commander. She replied with an affirmative huff before remounting her horse and moving back to the army. Hiato turned to Guiche.

"Where's the princess?"

"She'll be joining us once the reinforcements from Germania arrive at the Capital. She had some business she needed to attend to back in the capital. I should get back." Guiche said, looking at the army. Hiato nodded at Guiche, and he jumped on his horse and rode back to the army. Hiato then glared at Julio.

"Keep up." Was all he said before he transformed back into a dragon and took off, Gawaine following behind. Louise watched him go before she climbed onto the last horse which was waiting for her. She didn't say a word to Julio as she kicked it in the sides and rode off towards the army. The Romallian sighed and climbed back on his dragon.

_*1 hour later*_

_"The Albion forces are coming into view. We've got several dozen ships flying in a loose formation bombing the town. There appear to be ground troops deployed around the town to keep the civilians trapped in." _Hiato finished with a note of disgust. Louise nodded and passed the information on to Agnes who was sitting next to him. The musketeer commander thought the news over.

"Ask him if they know we are coming."

Louise replayed the message. This had been the pre-arranged plan. Louise would act as communications between Hiato and the dragon force and the troops on the ground, since she was the only one who could reach Hiato when he was in the sky fighting. It was the only way for them to effectively communicate during the battle, and Louise had actually been willing to do it.

_"As far as we can tell, they have no idea we are on approach. We could get the drop on the ships while the ground forces move in to deal with the troops around the village."_

Louise relayed the message.

"Tell him it sounds like a good plan, but we need to get into position first."

Louise once more relayed the message.

_"Got it. Just give us the signal and we're ready to go." _

Agnes nodded with slight approval when she heard that. She quickly gave the orders and the troops began to spread out. "Are you nervous?" Guiche asked Louise. The pinkette turned to look at the boy. She smiled. "Just a little, but I'm sure we're gonna win. We have a lot of dragon's on our side after all, who could beat them?"

_"Dragon slayers, that's who. Thankfully Ascalon is far from here so we don't need to worry about Arthur. What puzzles me is how small this force is." _Draggosh commented.

_"Small!? That's an entire ARMY out there!" _Louise replied.

_"I know, but for a nation like Albion, surely they should be able to field a larger force... hmm... maybe this is just an expeditionary force... to test us, so to speak. Otherwise... this is some kind of trap, but I don't know what it could be."_

_"What makes you think it's a trap?"_

_"I get these feelings from time to time when things just don't add up. It tends to happen a lot around Hiato, for some unexplainable reason." _Draggosh finished sarcastically. Louise couldn't help but smile a little. Several minutes later, the army was in position.

"Give him the signal."

Louise nodded.

"_We're ready"_

_"Alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll right then! Lets do this!" _Hiato declared cheerfully. Up in the sky's, Hiato and the dragon's were prepared to dive straight onto the unsuspecting Albion airships. He was back in his human form, albeit with his arms and legs covered in scales and his wings out. Derf was in his right hand, since he found it hard to wield the sword with his left hand, which was showing better signs of life, and he was grinning.

"Ready Derf?"

"Heck yeah!"

Hiato nodded, and he and the dragon's began their dive towards the ships. Once he got close enough, he engulfed himself in fire and held Derf out in front of himself. Within seconds, he smashed through the deck of one of the ships and flew out the bottom. He quickly stopped himself and flew back through the hole his dive had created.

(CUE MUSIC (if you want))

"We're under attack!" One of the men on the deck declared. "Oh yes you are." Hiato said as he burst through the deck. Before the man could reply Hiato swung Derf and sent a wave of fire towards him. It exploded, ripping the deck to pieces and causing the entire ship to lurch. He quickly dodged as a spell flew past him and he gathered a fireball in his hand and hurled it downwards, blowing the ship clean in half. He then flew towards a neighbouring ship and smashed straight through the side, winding up in a room full of crew.

"W-What the-" One of them started before Hiato sent him flying through the wall with a punch. The rest of the crew quickly figured out he was an enemy and all attack at once, many using whatever objects they could get hold of as weapons. Hiato ducked, dived and weaved his way around the crew for a few moments before blasting them all back with a wave of fire, knocking most of the through the walls and setting the cabin on fire. He burst out onto the upper deck, Derf at the ready. Several crew members charged at him with their swords raised. He blocked the blow from one with Derf, kicked the other one's feet out from under him and head butted another. He then forced the one whom's sword he was blocking back before charging him and delivering a powerful punch, sending him flying across the deck.

_Huh, guess that training really paid off. _Hiato didn't have long to think about it though as spells began flying past him, forcing him to dodge or block them with Derf. There were 2 mages on the ship, one at the front of the ship and one at the back, the aft and stern to be technical. He glanced left and right quickly and formed a plan. As a lightning bolt from one came fizzling towards him, he dodged it and hurled a fireball back, only for it to be dodged. Hiato had been expecting that however, and quickly shot towards the mage, hand wreathed in fire.

"Dragon fist!" He yelled as the blow connected and sent the unfortunate mage flying off the ship into another one nearby which was currently being attacked by 3 dragon's simultaneously. It's sails were on fire, it's deck torn to pieces and it was rapidly falling. Hiato had little time to admire the destruction being wrought on all the other ships as the other mage on the ship he was on wasn't done yet as Hiato had to dodge several icicles being fired at him.

_I hate ice _Hiato grumbled to himself. He jumped off the side and flew around the ship, planning to catch the mage off-guard. He changed his plan half-way through though, and instead shot through the ship straight out the part of the deck where the mage was standing, completely catching the man off-guard. Before he could respond at all, Hiato slashed him across the chest with a burning Derf and sent him flying downwards with a fireball against his chest. The resulting explosion ripped the ship apart.

Hiato took a deep breath and then smiled when one of the dragons quickly blasted him with some fire. He nodded his thanks before flapping his wings and flying off. He watched with interest as the dragon's tore apart the Albion fleet with tooth, claw and fire. He then stopped and went wide eyed.

One of the dragon's had been killed.

It's body was falling in slow motion. It's chest had been reduced to bloody chunks, probably from a close range cannon shot. Hiato looked around and was shocked to see several more dead dragon's falling towards the ground. He clenched his fists in anger before he turned around and quickly avoided a cannonball. The ship that it came from appeared to be much bigger than the others, and was flying the flag Hiato hated so much.

The flag of the Order.

He gritted his teeth and charged towards the ship, and then found himself rapidly dodging cannonballs and spells. He swore as a wind spell grazed his cheek. He roared and charged forwards, but before he could reach the ship something got in his way and forced him to divert. His eyes widened when he saw another dragon, except it had a rider. The rider looked at him, it's face hidden behind the helmet it was wearing. Hiato was about to charge forwards when he heard clapping.

"My my, so this is what happened to those dragon's who left us."

Hiato looked to the source of the voice and saw a man standing on the deck of the command ship. He had an arrogant air about him, and Hiato disliked him immediately, not that he didn't already since he was an enemy. "Well no matter... it's a shame a few have to die, but soon they will all be back under _my_ control."

Hiato felt his anger rising. "And just who the hell are you?" He demanded. The man looked at him, before raising his hand and pointing a large ring at Hiato which was on one of his fingers.

"I am Cromwell, and you... are now my slave."

Before Hiato could do anything, the ring started to glow.

* * *

**And that's the chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and please leave a review telling me if it was good, bad, meh or if i should just stop xD **

**Now then, cheers and I'll see you next time!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Um... hi... haha... you see... I'm sorry this took a while to update. You see... I kinda had writers block for like a month... then I had exams... then I kinda went away on holiday for 2 weeks. So... yeah... sorry this took so long to update.**

**Dislaimer: I do not own FOZ**

* * *

Guiche tch'd as he knocked out several more soldiers with his Valkyries. Overall the ground battle had surprisingly been easy thus far, the masses of enemy grunts easily being dealt with by the Tristain forces. Of course Guiche could only judge form what he saw in his immediate surroundings, so for all he knew his allies could be being pushed back everywhere else. He redirected his Valkyries to assist a nearby group of troops which was currently surrounded by enemies. With quick strikes his earth warriors knocked out several of the enemy forces and made a hole for his allies to escape through. Seeing that they had received aid, the Tristain troops rallied before charging through the opening.

Guiche glanced around and quickly dodged a sword swing from a soldier who's armour was covered in blood and his face ugly and swollen. The man let loose a savage battle cry before swinging at Guiche again. The earth mage dodged before willing one of his Valkyries to hit the man in the back of the head with the pommel of its weapon, but instead of knocking the man out the blow simply aggravated him further and he swung around before demolishing the Valkyries head with a swing of his shield. In response the Valkyrie punched him in the face before slashing him across the chest. The man howled in rage and slashed the Valkyrie clean in 2, disregarding his shield in order to grip his sword with two hands.

The blood crazed fighter spun around and was about to charge at Guiche before an arrow planted itself right between his eyes. For a moment his whole body stiffened as his hands reached up to the arrow, then he simply crumpled into a pile on the ground.

_I'll never get used to seeing that _Guiche thought to himself as he turned away, his face adopting a sick expression for a brief moment. He knew people died it war, it was a given, but seeing it first hand... wasn't something he could have ever prepared himself for. An explosion going off overhead snapped him out of his thoughts and the blond haired man looked up to see a glorious fireball erupting from where there had previously been an airship. Guiche smirked.

_Guess Hiato's getting to work, I can't afford to let him-_

His train of thought was interrupted when a massive stone fist slammed into the ground next to him, not only knocking the wind out of him but also knocking him onto his back. His heart pounded in his ears as he scrambled to his feet, the screams and yells of troops all around him temporarily blocked out. He looked up to see a massive stone golem towering over the mass of troops, and he noticed several others, all of which were currently smashing their way through the Tristain army.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

Guiche looked up and his eyes narrowed when he saw a green haired women atop the golem that had nearly ended his life.

"Fouquet." He remarked in a tone of disgust. "I thought you were in prison."

"I was. But now I'm free, free to carry on with serving the Reconquista. And part of that, involves _you_." She smirked wickedly. Guiche summoned several more Valkyries and entered a fighting stance.

"Oh really? Well I'm afraid to say that whatever you have planned, I intend to thwart. And just because you're a women doesn't mean I'll go easy on you." Guiche stated with a serious expression, much to Fouquet's amusement.

"Oh my, where are your manners boy?" She asked with a smirk. Before Guiche could reply her golem swung its fist towards him, forcing him to use all his Valkyries to block the blow. Despite this, he still dived to the side just in case, which turned out to be a good idea as the Valkyries were all obliterated by the golems fist, which then smashed into the ground. As he landed he summoned more Valkyries with a wave of his rose and ordered them to charge Fouquet. The female earth mage replied by ordering her golem to raise its arm and swat the Valkyries away like insects, but one avoided the blow and charged straight at Fouquet, sword raised and ready to strike.

Not wasting a second the green haired women quickly willed a fist of stone to shoot out of the golem and obliterate the Valkyrie. Upon impact, the fist did as she expected, the Valkyrie shattered into pieces...

... which reformed into a full Valkyrie once they got close enough to Fouquet.

_What?!_ She demanded mentally. Before she could voice the question or even do anything the Valkyrie swung its sword and caught her on the side of the face, knocking her across her golems shoulders. The massive stone giant tried to swat the pesky Valkyrie out of the sky but Guiche, whom was now focusing all of his attention and magic into this Valkyrie and another attack he was preparing for, was managing to keep the Valkyrie at a speed that made it hard for the massive rock golem to catch it.

_Just a little longer, and then I'll be able to finish this! _Guiche thought as he focused his magic. The shards of his other Valkyries started gathering together and several newer ones were being formed from out the ground. _I just hope this works, otherwise I'm done for._

Unfortunately Fouquet noticed what he was doing and came to a snap second decision. She willed her golem to stop trying to catch the Valkyrie chasing her around on its shoulders...

... and to instead grab Guiche while his guard was down.

Focusing her magic, she enhanced her golems speed, and in less than a second it grabbed Guiche in one of its massive tone hands. He let out a surprised gasp but quickly went back to focusing on what he was doing. _If I can just-_

He was flicked in the head by the golem's other hand, knocking him unconscious.

"Now then." Fouquet said with a smirk, the Valkyrie disintegrating as it was about to hit her. She looked at what Guiche had been attempting to do, and scoffed. "Did you really think making a giant Valkyrie would help you?" she tch'd before looking around at the surrounding battle field.

"Hmm, as much as I'd like to stay, my mission here is complete." She then willed all the other golems to disintegrate, and quickly casted the teleport spell that she had learnt, and she, the golem and Guiche were engulfed in a bright light.

When it faded, there was no trace anyone had been there previously.

* * *

Cromwell was smirking as he held out his hand, the purple light bathing Hiato. This boy apparently had great power, and once he was under Cromwell's control, he'd be a perfect tool to use to take over this pathetic little country. _Nothing can stand in the way of the Reconquista! _Cromwell thought arrogantly. Hiato was unmoving, eyes locked onto the purple light, his body still. After a while, Cromwell lowered the ring. "Now then, it's time for you to do your job. Go and deal with those pesky dragons, or even better get them to roast those fools attacking the town."

Hiato didn't move. He fixed Cromwell with a glare. "What was that supposed to do?" He hissed. When the ring had started shining, Hiato's body had felt weird. He'd felt as though something was trying to wrench control of his body away from him, but he'd managed to fight the strange sensation and retain control of his body. Cromwell's eyes bulged out of his head. "What!? Impossible! The ring should have turned you into my slave!" He snapped. Hiato blinked before snarling. "You were trying to turn me into your slave..." He became engulfed in fire and glared at Cromwell. "... no one _ever _tries to enslave a dragon... and survives."

The knight on the back of the dragon charged, and Hiato watched him approach. Gathering his power, Hiato sent out a wave of fire which roasted the man alive inside his armour. His lifeless body fell from the back of the now confused dragon. Gathering his will, Hiato broke into the creatures mind and his anger built when he saw the creature's soul screaming out for help, trapped by the strange magic of the ring. _If he'd kept that thing on me for much longer then I'd have been in serious trouble_ Hiato thought. Turning to look at the man in question, he scowled when Cromwell was running towards the back of the ship, clearly intent on trying to get to safety.

"NOT SO FAST YOU BASTARD!" Hiato roared and hurled himself towards the fleeing man. Hiato's prey spun around to reveal his face a mask of abject terror, something which Hiato took _pleasure_ in seeing. The man stumbled and fell, and started scrambling to try and get to his feet. Hiato landed next to him, and when Cromwell managed to get his feet solidly on the ground, the dragonoid kicked him in the side with enough force to send him flying across the deck and cough up some blood. Hiato slowly made his way over, and Cromwell scrambled upright, his eyes betraying terror at the fact he was now currently powerless in his situation, and thus resorted to the typical course of action cowards undertake when in danger.

"P-Please don't kill me! I...I'll give you anything you wan-OOFH" Hiato kicked him in the gut, cutting off his attempts to beg for his life. "Shut up." the dragonoid growled. "There's nothing you can give me that can make me spare your life. Now tell me, where. Is. _Arthur?_" He hissed the last word, and Cromwell flinched. "I... I won't tell you!" He said, regaining some semblance of a backbone. It faded a moment later when Hiato slammed a fire coated fist into his gut with enough force to nearly cause the man to barf. "Don't give me that shit. Tell me... **where is he?**" He demanded, his eyes burning with sudden fury.

"W-Why do you want to know?" Cromwell stammered out. His answer was a fist smashing into the side of his face, sending him crashing into the deck. _"As if he's in a place to ask, bastard."_ Draggosh growled inside Hiato's mind. His descendant nodded in agreement. "Now tell me, where is he?"

Cromwell looked up from his spot on the deck, blood pouring down the side of his bruised face. "H-He's in Galia! A-At the capital!" Cromwell whined out, hoping that doing so would reward him mercy from Hiato. The dragon whom's rider Hiato had killed crashed into the deck, sending splinters and chunks of wood flying outwards from the impact site. It slowly reared its head and looked around, confusing apparent on its features. It's eyes came to rest on Hiato and Cromwell, and its memories of being enslaved and being forced to fight its own kin against its will came bubbling to the surface and it snarled at the man, causing him to wince.

Hiato wasn't paying much attention however, as his mind was analysing what Cromwell had revealed to him. _He's in Galia? But that doesn't make any sense, aren't they supposed to be neutral in this whole affair? "Maybe the Reconquista is planning to overthrow the Gallian __aristocracy and take-over the country. He could be there facilitating the take over. After all, we know just how good that man is at taking over cities, from the inside or the outside." _

Hiato nodded in agreement. _We'll have to let the princess know. She might be able to alert the Gallian's before it's too late. _Breaking from his mental conversation, the dragonoid looked at the dragon that had just crash landed on the deck of the ship, and then he looked at Cromwell. He made the connection and chuckled darkly. "If you think I'm going to stop him, you're sorely mistaken. You never get between a dragon and his prey, so to that extent..." Hiato spread his wings and with a powerful downwards flap, soared into the air. He stabilised himself and looked down at Cromwell, who was now as white as a ghost. "... I think I should leave, and let the dragon deal with you as he wants. Have fun!" He said in a disturbingly cheery voice before flying off.

Cromwell was quite literally shitting his pants at this point. The dragon grinned, baring its rows of sharp teeth as it approached him, fury burning in its eyes. The man scrambled backwards towards the aft of the ship, frantically trying to stand up and try to escape from the dragon, fear making his heart pound in his ears and his breath come in ragged gasps. He screamed in pain as the dragon pinned him to the deck by stomping down on his leg with its arm, and a sick cracking noise was heard a moment later as Cromwell's leg was broken, electing yet another blood curling screech from the man. He was panicking now, flailing like a mad man to try and escape from his fate at the hands of the dragon, calling out for help at the top of his lungs.

Unfortunately for him, no-one was listening.

* * *

Louise took a deep breath as she watched the carnage unfold above. She had been relaying messages and orders back and forth between the dragons and the ground forces for the last hour straight, and had to take a quick break in order to get her breath back. Agnes had allowed her, mainly because the Albion forces on the ground were boxed in at the centre of the town and it was simply a waiting game at this point to see how long they could last. As for their air forces... Hiato and the dragon's had been doing a very thorough and effective job of taking the ships down.

She rode her horse to a small hill a few meters away, her back to the town. She climbed off her steed and looked around, her eyes settling on a comfortable looking rock several meters away. She made her way over and sat down on it whilst her horse began searching for food. She let out a tired sigh and closed her eyes. _Hiato... I hope you're okay. _She thought.

_"Don't worry he's doing just fine. Having a lot of fun in fact, his forte seems to be burning things, wonder where he picked that up from." _Draggosh said with a jovial tone, and Louise couldn't help but chuckle. _Yeah... I really wonder. Maybe from a certain several thousand year old dragon? _She suggested. _"I didn't burn things when I still had a body." _Louise raised an eyebrow. _"Okay... maybe one or two things..." _Louise laughed, and her face settled into a tired smile when she quietened down. She looked up at the sky, and her smile faded instantly.

_"It never changes." _Draggosh said solemnly.

_What doesn't? _Louise asked.

_"War. In all my years, back when I still had a body, I learned about one of the certainties of existence. And that is... war never changes."_

Louise said nothing. She sat there for some time, not saying anything. She then gave yet another heavy sigh before looking up at the sky. "Why? Why couldn't I have just lived a peaceful life with Hiato at the academy? Why couldn't I, no we, me and Hiato, not be involved in this?"

_"Because that's how life is Louise. Very rarely what you want to happen will happen, and what you don't want to happen or don't expect to happen will happen. And where did all this suddenly come from anyway?" _Draggosh asked.

"I... I don't know." She said out-loud again. "It's just... I don't know. Maybe because I've realised one of us could die, or even both of us. And I don't want that, I just want a happy life with Hiato."

_"So why not run away?"_

Louise blinked. She found herself frozen, out of what she wasn't sure, but it felt like anger and shock. _H-How could you just say that!? Do you WANT use to abandon our friends!? To just turn our backs on the fact we have to help stop the Reconquista? _She demanded in anger.

_"No I don't. I asked you that because I wanted to see your reaction. I asked you, 'why not run away?' because doing so would show me whether or not what you just said were passing thoughts or your current mind-set. Listen Louise, we don't all get what we want in life, some of us get stuck inside other peoples bodies because of bloody stupid curses, and others can't live the happy lives they want, but we have to make the most of what we've got. And some of us end up having the weight of the world placed on our shoulders, almost always unexpectedly and without our agreement, but then we are truly tested to see what our limits are. If you stumble and fall, the world will go with you. Don't let that happen Louise, no matter what, never give up. So chin up, put a smile on your face, and meet whatever challenges come your way head on and with strength and determination. And trust me, Hiato isn't one to go down easily so you don't need to worry about him getting killed."_

Louise chuckled at the last part, the happy feeling a good reprieve from her melancholy state. _Thanks Draggosh. I'll try and stand on my feet, I'll do my best not to give up, no matter what._

_"Good to hear! Now then let's get back to-" _

Draggosh stopped, realising Louise's attention was elsewhere. She was currently focused on a man who seemed to be pushing his horse to breaking point, resulting in it whining as it sprinted at top speed towards the girl. The man on the horse looked ragged, sweat running down his face and his breathing was in short gasps. He essentially fell off his horse as he stopped it, the animal collapsing to the ground in a tired mess. The man forced himself to his feet, breathing still unsteady and ragged.

"I... the academy... news... need to... tell you..." He stammered out. Louise wasn't entirely sure what to do, and had thus locked up on the spot. "I... um... try calming down?" She said, unsure of her own words. The man didn't take any heed, but was managing to gain control of his breathing.

"You are... Louise valliere... correct?" He asked. The pinkette nodded.

The man didn't waste any time in getting his message across.

"The academy... it's been... it's been... attacked..." He stammered. Louise's eyes widened but before she could say anything, the messenger delivered the rest of his message.

"... and your friend... Tabitha... has been kidnapped."

* * *

**So yeah... that's the first chapter I've done in um... a while. I'm really, really sorry about the delay, and I promise I'll never go on such a long Hiatus again! So please leave a review telling me what you thought, where I can improve, and I'll hopefully see you in the next chapter!**


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